‘He looks awesome’ | Power continues dominant start with OT winner vs. Wild

A corner of the KeyBank Center crowd broke out into “Owen Power” chants during Tuesday’s third period. It was both a reflection of the defenseman’s play to that point and a sign of things to come.

“I didn’t hear, I had no idea,” Power laughed. “That’s pretty cool.”

Even cooler was Power’s next move, an overtime goal with 38 seconds remaining to give the Sabres a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild – a game Buffalo trailed 2-0 through two periods.

Another multi-point effort gives Power a team-leading five-points (1+4) through three games. He’s averaging 26:34 of ice time per game, including 29:04 on Tuesday and 11:03 in the third period alone. After making major strides last season, offensively and defensively, the former first-overall pick been a dominant three-zone force to start 2026-27.

“I mean, he looks awesome,” Tage Thompson said. “Just his confidence, his plays with the puck. He’s always had that, but I think he’s looking really good.”

“I really like where he's got his game,” added coach Lindy Ruff. “He's stronger. He's faster. He's really moving out there.”

Empty scoring chances and some unfavorable calls (more on that later) had the Sabres chasing the game, so Ruff made a couple third-period lineup adjustments that paid off in a major way. For one, he stacked the top defense pair with Power and Rasmus Dahlin.

Those blueliners, plus the second line, put together a dominant shift in the offensive zone and were rewarded with some puck luck: Power’s centering pass ricocheted off a defender, off Noah Östlund at the back post and in, giving the arena some life and Östlund his first goal of the season.

Minnesota’s Quinn Hughes deserves his flowers as one of the NHL’s top defensemen, but when the Power-Dahlin tandem gets to work on offense like they did Tuesday, they’re just about unstoppable. They played 9:24 together at 5-on-5 in the win and controlled 83 percent of the expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick.

“Yeah, it’s a lot fun,” Power said of playing with Dahlin. “A lot of times, just give him the puck and get open, and he’ll find you. Obviously, he’s one of the best, if not the best defenseman in the world, so it makes my life easy.”

Ruff’s other big change saw Thompson, Peyton Krebs and Jiri Kulich join forces on a line and create the tying goal with 10:22 remaining in regulation. After Power flipped a puck into the Minnesota end, Krebs pressured Hughes into a turnover and fed Thompson for a one-timer from the high slot.

Krebs and Thompson, a known commodity from last regular season and the playoffs, always seem to bring the best out of one another.

“It’s not hard to have chemistry with a guy like that,” Thompson said. “He works extremely hard. I can’t say enough good things about that guy. … Just his ability to hound pucks and find guys that are in open ice. He’s got the creative playmaking ability, too.”

Overtime was peak 3-on-3 entertainment with eight total shots on goal, a series of odd-man chances and three clutch saves by Sabres goalie Colten Ellis. Eventually, Kulich stole the puck from Matt Boldy behind the net and found Power stepping up for the winner.

That’s consecutive wins in which the Sabres (2-1-0) have overcome 2-0 deficits. Not a habit they’d like to continue, of course, but a sign of great resilience as this 84-game season gets underway – especially against a contending team like the Wild.

“I think we’ve accumulated some confidence from that and know that when we’re in that position, that if we trust what we’re doing, the way we want to play, that we’ll get our looks and find a way back in it,” Thompson said.

Here’s more from the comeback win.

Ellis’ season debut

Making his first appearance of the season, Ellis finished with 18 saves on 20 shots for the win. The first goal against was a tough deflection off a defenseman’s stick, the second a defensive breakdown that left Maxim Shabanov alone in front. And the second-year goalie saved his best for overtime, making two saves on 42-goal scorer Matt Boldy and another on Danila Yurov.

“He played well, for sure,” Ruff said. “I liked a couple of the big saves he made there at key moments. I thought his puck play, with them dumping the puck in, I think that frustrated them a little bit. He gave us a solid effort.”

Ellis has been either the second or third goalie on the depth chart since joining the Sabres a year ago Tuesday, and that could continue when Alex Lyon (upper body) is game-ready. But he’s building a track record of steady performance (nine wins, .903 save percentage in 17 games) when called upon.

“He's a gamer. He’s a guy that comes to the rink every day with a good attitude, regardless of his situation,” Thompson said. “… He’s team-first guy in the way he works in practice and just, off the ice, prepares. I think there’s no surprise that when he steps into the cage, he’s ready to go.”

Defensive strides

Unhappy with their first two games, the Sabres focused on defense for much of Monday’s practice, and it appeared to have paid off against a highly skilled Wild team. The Shabanov goal aside, Buffalo allowed very few chances from the middle of the ice and, per Stathletes, led 8-1 in odd-man rushes.

“That was like a playoff game out there. I thought our details were good,” Ruff said.

Buffalo might’ve run away with things if not for Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt, who (with help from his goalposts) turned aside several dangerous scoring chances. His best moment: a glove robbery of Thompson during a late-third-period power play.

“He definitely stole a couple from me tonight,” Thompson said, “but glad we came out on top.”

Interference?

The Wild took their 2-0 lead in an unfortunate sequence second-period sequence for the Sabres. Olen Zellweger sped in for a Buffalo scoring chance, but Krebs’ slight pick at the blue line earned him an interference penalty; Yurov scored for Minnesota on the resulting power play.

Two minutes later, Michael McCarron ran a more blatant interference in the Minnesota zone; it went uncalled, and Shabanov proceeded to score at the other end and double the lead.

“I disagree with a couple of individuals, too, out there,” Ruff said. “But you have to battle through that. … I thought our guys showed a lot of maturity (to) just keep playing the game the right way.”

Postgame sound

Up next

The Sabres host the Dallas Stars on Thursday at 7 p.m., with MSG’s pregame coverage starting at 6:30. Tickets are still available.