Game Recap: Sabres 3, Wild 2 (OT)

BUFFALO -- Owen Power scored at 4:22 of overtime, and the Buffalo Sabres rallied for a 3-2 win against the Minnesota Wild at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

He took a pass in the slot from Jiri Kulich and put a wrist shot blocker side on goalie Jesper Wallstedt.

“Just came off the bench and Kulich made a good play behind the net, and I was just trying to get one on net and fortunate that it went in,” Power said.

Noah Ostlund and Tage Thompson also scored, and Colten Ellis made 18 saves for the Sabres (2-1-0).

“We played a real good game,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “Played well defensively, generated a lot of opportunities. We missed too many opportunities early, but we talked about just sticking with it, getting one in the first 10 minutes and we could get back in the hockey game.”

Danila Yurov and Maxim Shabanov scored for the Wild (2-0-1). Wallstedt made 25 saves.

“It's a hard one to digest right now,” Wallstedt said. “Over 64 and a half minutes. I don't know if we 100 percent deserved to win today. It didn't feel like we had our best over the course of the whole game, and we had some uncharacteristic odd-man rushes against us that we usually don't do. It felt like we fully didn't play to our identity today. But the good thing is we got one point and we were in it for a long time.”

Ostlund cut it to 2-1 at 3:55 of the third period. Power’s intended pass to Ostlund on the back door redirected off the skate of Minnesota forward Blake Coleman and off Ostlund’s leg into the net.

Thompson received a pass from Peyton Krebs in the slot and beat Wallstedt with a quick shot stick side to tie it 2-2 at 9:38.

“It’s not hard to have chemistry with a guy like that,” Thompson said of Krebs. “He works extremely hard. I can’t say enough good things about that guy. … I love playing with him. I think just his ability to hound pucks and find guys that are in open ice, he’s got the creative playmaking ability, too. So, yeah, that’s all him on that that play. I’m just trying to find a quiet spot to get a shot off, and he makes a great look there.”

Yurov scored on the power play to give the Wild a 1-0 lead at 13:53 of the second period. He took a pass from Jared Spurgeon in the right circle and one-timed it short side past Ellis’ left arm.

Shabanov made it 2-0 at 15:38. Quinn Hughes carried the puck up the ice to the left circle and pushed it over to Shabanov, who snapped it past Ellis.

“I think Yurov and Shabanov are two guys that we need to step up and play well for us. I think they have,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “They've both had good training camps, good exhibition games, good first few games, so it was nice to see them be able to get on the board tonight because I think they've had multiple opportunities in prior games and didn't go in for them.”

NOTES: Minnesota forward Nick Foligno left the game late in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Hynes did not have an update postgame. … Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov played in his 400th NHL game. … Power has at least one assist in each of Buffalo’s first three games. He’s the eighth defenseman in Sabres history to accomplish the feat. … Thompson’s goal was his 400th point with Buffalo in 491 games, becoming the 16th player in team history to reach the mark and the 10th fastest to do so. … Sabres forward Justin Danforth played 8:17 in his first regular-season game since sustaining a broken kneecap on Oct. 15, 2025. … Buffalo is 0-for-10 on the power play this season, and Minnesota is 9-for-9 on the penalty kill after the Sabres were scoreless on two man-advantage opportunities.