BUFFALO — Victor Olofsson scored his second goal of the game with 19 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Buffalo Sabers a 6-5 win against the Minnesota Wild at KeyBank Center on Saturday.
Olofsson scored off a cross-ice pass Peyton Krebs in the right circle.
“I think their guy kind of lost an edge down there and it was a clear 3-on-2,” Olofsson said. “Great play by ‘Dahls’ [Rasmus Dahlin] first to ‘Krebsy,’ and then he made a beautiful pass to me.”
Video: MIN@BUF: Olofsson’s second win in OT for Sabres
The goal came after Dahlin, who had two goals and three assists, tied it 5-5 at 17:36 of the third period with a shot from along the half-wall. Dahlin’s five points are tied for the most by a defenseman in Buffalo history.
“My drive is coming from my teammates,” he said. “Everyone wants to score, everyone wants to be the game-winner. It’s easy to play and it’s easy to have that mentality when everyone else is having it, too.”
Dylan Cozens had a goal and an assist, and Casey Mittelstadt had three assists for the Sabers (20-15-2), who have won eight of nine. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 39 saves for his sixth straight win.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman each had a goal and an assist, and Calen Addison had two assists for the Wild (22-13-3). Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves.
Olofsson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 13:00 of the first period on a one-timer from the right circle off a no-look pass from Mittelstadt.
Brandon Duhaime tied it 1-1 at 2:52 of the second period, poking in a loose puck at the top of the crease.
Kirill Kaprizov put Minnesota ahead 2-1 at 6:46 from the high slot on a power play, but Tage Thompson tied it 2-2 at 10:30 with his own power-play goal, a one-timer from the left circle.
Dahlin gave the Sabers a 3-2 lead at 12:02 after dragging the puck into the slot.
“He was a force,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “I don’t know, is it NHL vote, NHL All-Star dot com? Whatever it is. But there should be some clicks tonight because that was a special night by him. To watch that unfold was impressive.”
Video: MIN@BUF: Dahlin snipes game-tying goal in 3rd
Cozens pushed it to 4-2 at 13:55 with a power-play goal from the left circle.
“We talked about it with you guys here this morning of how good they are offensively in the League, and they proved that,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “I don’t know, maybe we wanted to prove how good we are, but that’s not who we are. We traded chances with them and in the end got burned by it.”
Hartman cut it to 4-3 at 18:45, deflecting a cross-ice pass from Gaudreau out of midair at the side of the net.
Marcus Foligno scored 26 seconds into the third period to tie it 4-4 when a pass from Eriksson Ek redirected in off his skate at the edge of the crease.
Eriksson Ek then put the Wild ahead 5-4 at 7:48, scoring on the glove side on the power play.
“That one’s not on [Fleury], he played great, and give credit to that team,” Foligno said. “They do swarm and come in a group of five a lot of the game. We battled hard, but I think the start for this game [was] a little bit sleepy on our end.
“I think we knew the offensive talent that they had and the way they play. I think we could’ve done a better job in the first to understand the style of play, but they definitely swarmed us and kept us on our heels, and it took us a while to get to our game. … All in all, you’ve got a lead with a couple of minutes, you’ve got to bear down and didn’t do it. Overtime was nuts, so it’s just one of those things you’d like it not to go to overtime.”
Video: MIN@BUF: Eriksson Ek snaps pass home for Wild lead
NOTES: Fleury played his 964th NHL game, moving past Ed Belfour for fifth among goalies in NHL history. … Duhaime returned to the lineup after missing 18 games with an upper-body injury. … Eriksson Ek had his ninth multipoint game of the season. … Dahlin got his 200th NHL point with an assist on Olofsson’s first goal. The other defensemen to score five points in a game in Sabers history are Phil Housley (Dec. 23, 1989), John Van Boxmeer (Nov. 7, 1981), Richie Dunn (Jan. 27, 1980) and Jerry Korab (Feb. 25, 1978). … The Sabers held a moment of celebration for Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who has shown progress in his recovery after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Bills game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday.
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