Wild Defeat Sabres 4-1, Closing in on Central Division Standings

ST. PAUL, MN – Marco Rossi, Justin Brazeau, Mats Zuccarello, and Frederick Gaudreau all found the back of the net as the Minnesota Wild secured a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

Firmly holding the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, Minnesota inched closer to third-place Colorado in the Central Division, now trailing by just two points. The Wild wrapped up their season-long seven-game homestand with a solid 4-2-1 record.

Goaltender Filip Gustavsson continued his strong form in March, stopping 20 shots to improve to 6-2-1 this month. He boasts an impressive 1.65 goals-against average, a .941 save percentage, and two shutouts over that stretch.

Buffalo’s lone goal came from JJ Peterka, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 saves. The Sabres have now dropped two straight games and have struggled with a 3-8-1 record over their last 12 contests.

Rossi opened the scoring early in the second period, burying a pass from Yakov Trenin for his career-high 22nd goal of the season and his first in 12 games. Just four minutes later, Brazeau—who was acquired from Boston on March 6—netted his first goal with the Wild.

Zuccarello extended Minnesota’s lead to 3-0 before the midway point of the period, finishing off a slick setup from Matt Boldy, who tallied two assists on the night.

Peterka, who recently returned from a lower-body injury that sidelined him for three games, now has goals in back-to-back appearances. Meanwhile, Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin rejoined the lineup after missing nine games due to a lower-body issue.

Gustavsson made several key stops early, including a sliding save on Alex Tuch during a Buffalo power play and a toe save on Tage Thompson, keeping the game scoreless despite the Wild being outplayed in the first period.

According to NHL Stats, Boldy’s two-assist performance brought him to at least 60 points for the third straight season, tying him with Zuccarello (2021-24), Kirill Kaprizov (2021-24), and Mikko Koivu (2008-11) for the longest such streak in Wild history.

Up Next:
Buffalo concludes its four-game road trip on Sunday against Winnipeg, while Minnesota travels to Dallas on Monday.