At The Final Horn | Pysyk's game-tying goal sets up shootout win vs. Wild

Mark Pysyk's game-tying goal midway through the third period set up an exciting overtime period and eventually led to Tage Thompson's shootout-deciding goal as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Thursday.
Rookie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves through regulation and overtime at Xcel Energy Center and was perfect in the shootout to earn his second win of the season in his fifth consecutive start.
Dylan Cozens also scored for Buffalo in regulation.

Jon Merrill and Kirill Kaprizov tallied for the Wild. Kaprizov also rang one off the post in the top of the third round in the shootout.
Minnesota goaltender Cam Talbot made 38 saves on 40 shots.
Buffalo's power play was 0-for-2 while the penalty kill was 2-for-2, successfully killing off a double minor in the second period.

How it happened

The Wild struck first with 9:49 left in the first period. Merrill's one timer from the right point went off Luukkonen's glove and in to open the scoring.
Buffalo outshot Minnesota 21-6 in the first period, but found themselves down a goal after 20 minutes of play.
The Sabres got on the board 8:05 into the second when Cozens deflected in a shot by Henri Jokiharju for his eighth of the season.
Midway through the second, Buffalo killed off a double-minor high sticking penalty to keep the game tied, but a late goal put Minnesota ahead.
With 55.5 seconds left in the second, Kaprizov shot a rolling puck found its way through Luukkonen's legs and just in over the goal line.
The Sabres tied things up again with 7:57 left in regulation. Vinnie Hinostroza found Pysyk streaking down from the point to redirect the puck in past Talbot.
The clubs traded chances in overtime. Luukkonen made three big stops over the five-minute period and the Sabres also came close on a few occasions. Kyle Okposo just missed a chance in tight and Cozens had Talbot beat five hole with seconds remaining, but Talbot was able to keep the puck out.
Both goalies were perfect in the shootout heading into the bottom of the third round. Then Thompson put one off the post and in to win the game.

Roll the highlight film

Here's Pysyk's game-tying goal:

Worthy of a mention

• Pysyk, in his second stint with Buffalo, last scored as a member of the Sabres on March 7, 2016.
• Luukkonen has made 154 saves on the 164 shots he's faced this year (.939 save percentage).
• The game marked Buffalo's firs trip to Minnesota since November 17, 2018. Buffalo came back to win that game (also by a 3-2 score), which turned out to be the fifth victory of a 10-game win streak.
• Buffalo is now 1-11-1 this season when trailing after two periods. Minnesota is now 11-0-1 when leading after two.

Coming up

The Sabres wrap up their three-game road trip Friday night when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550 with pregame coverage starting at 6:30 on MSG.
Buffalo has already earned four of four possible points on the trip after defeating the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.