Sabres Comeback Late to Beat the Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jason Pominville scored with 1:30 remaining and the Buffalo Sabres extended their winning streak to five games with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

Rookie defenceman Rasmus Dahlin had his second career goal and added an assist for Buffalo, which rallied from a two-goal deficit to post its longest winning streak since 2012. Jake McCabe also scored and Linus Ullmark made 37 saves for the Sabres.

Matt Dumba scored for the third straight game for Minnesota, and Zach Parise add another goal, becoming the highest-scoring Minnesotan in NHL history. Devan Dubnyk stopped 26 shots for the Wild.

Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild
Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild, Nov. 17, 2018 (Courtesy Canadian Press)

Buffalo is making a habit of rallying in its second year under coach Phil Housley.

The Sabres recovered from a 1-0 deficit on Friday in a shootout win in Winnipeg. They’ve won four times in 11 games when trailing after two periods.

Dahlin scored with 7:02 remaining in the third, poking a loose puck past Dubnyk after the goaltender couldn’t get a handle on it.

Buffalo’s Jack Eichel tried to grab a loose puck in the offensive zone after a dump-in. But the puck trickled out to Pominville, who quickly spun and sent a shot past an unsuspecting Dubnyk.

Parise scored the 341st goal of his 14-year career, surpassing Dave Christian’s 340 goals and previous top mark in league history for a player born in Minnesota.

Back after missing one game with an illness, Parise picked up a loose puck near the Buffalo bench as the Sabres tried to avoid a penalty for too many men in the ice. Parise raced into the offensive zone and snapped a shot high past Ullmark for his eighth goal of the season and fourth in the last six games.

Dumba’s eighth goal of the season gave the Wild a 2-0 cushion less than four minutes later. Dumba’s big slap shot from the point sailed high past Ullmark and was the fourth power-play goal for Minnesota in the last three games.

Dumba, who signed a five-year, $30 million contract in the off-season, is second among defenceman in goals this season and just six away from the career-high 14 he scored last season.

McCabe scored his second goal of the season after Dahlin, the first-overall pick in this year’s draft, cut through the Wild defence to spot a wide-open McCabe on the backside.

NOTES: It’s Buffalo’s first five-game winning streak since March 19-27, 2012. It’s the first time since the 2009-10 season that Buffalo has had 26 points through the first 20 games. … Minnesota is 11-3-2 in its last 16 games against the Sabres, outscoring them 54-31 in the process. . Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Eriksson Ek had missed six games earlier with a lower-body injury. … D Casey Nelson returned to the lineup for Buffalo after being a healthy scratch for four straight games. The Sabres scratched D Nathan Beaulieu.

UP NEXT

Sabres: Finish their road trip on Monday at Pittsburgh.

Wild: Play the second game of their back-to-back on Sunday at Chicago.

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Brian Hall, The Associated Press