Sabres win, end Devan Dubnyk's shutout streak

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Ryan O'Reilly and Johan Larsson scored to end Devan Dubnyk's three-game shutout streak, and the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Minnesota Wild 2-1 at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.
O'Reilly ended Dubnyk's streak at 3:16 of the first period with a rebound goal for a 1-0 lead. Dubnyk's streak of 183:16 set a Wild record; he stopped 22 of 24 shots Tuesday.
"One of our keys was getting in front of him, making it tough, making sure he can't see," O'Reilly said. "To get one early just on that kind of play is good for us, that'll give us a little confidence that we can score on this guy."

Brian Gionta found Larsson in the slot for the game-winner at 13:34 of the third period. The 24-year-old center has two goals in nine games this season, each a game-winner. Larsson had five game-winning goals last season, tied with Jack Eichel for the Sabres lead.
"He was a guy who scored a lot for us at the end of last season and did have a knack for getting the big goals and getting the game-winning goal," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. "Tonight we're trying to scratch out some kind of offense in the third period, trying to push forward in this building and get the win. There's nothing really fancy about him coming up big. … We said before the game to get one by Dubnyk it's going to have to be an ugly one, it's going to have to be standing in the blue paint to get it. [Larsson] goes there and a little bit of a fortunate bounce off the stick, gets Dubnyk moving, and he's right there to put it in."
Buffalo (4-3-2) has won three straight. Minnesota (6-3-1) had a four-game winning streak end.
The Sabres outshot the Wild 9-6 in the first period and had five takeaways.

"It was frustrating. Sometimes it's a frustrating team," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It can play so good one period and not show up for the [next] period. Tonight we didn't show up in the first period, I didn't think. We had no life and no energy, and then in the second period all of a sudden we're really good, and then in the third period it was like we were playing for a tie."
Minnesota tied the game 1-1 when Mikael Granlund picked up a rebound and beat Robin Lehner for a power-play goal at 17:31 of the second period. The Wild outshot the Sabres 15-7 in the second and 28-24 in the game.

Goal of the game

Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges worked the puck along the blue line, keeping it in the offensive zone. Gorges passed to Rasmus Ristolainen, whose shot from the point bounced off Dubnyk's pads to O'Reilly, who scored on the rebound.

Save of the game

At 5:16 of the first period, Dubnyk stretched across to deny Nick Baptiste, barely getting his body on the puck but managing to make the save.

Unsung moment of the game

On a Wild power play, Jason Pominville settled the puck at the blue line and found Eric Staal coming up the right wing. Staal put a shot on net and the rebound popped out to a wide-open Granlund. He deked and beat Lehner for the top-shelf goal.

Highlight of the game

Gionta skated up right wing and found Larsson in the slot. Of Larsson's 18 NHL goals, seven have been game-winners.

They said it

"I wasn't going to go another 80 games, so it was going to happen eventually. It's disappointing it happened on a play like that, but again, tough bounce, but it's kind of the way the night seemed to go." -- Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk on his shutout streak coming to an end

"We're a part of the shutout streak. We're a part of him stopping 39 shots in two periods against us in Buffalo (a 4-0 loss on Oct. 27). Knowing the run they're on, knowing the run he's on, we talked about it and felt like we needed to get some traffic in front of him. It was going to have to be a longer shot and then pick up the pieces afterward, and that's exactly what it was. It felt good to see that puck find the back of the net against a guy that's been playing so well." -- Buffalo Sabres coach Dan Bylsma

Need to know

Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian left the game at 14:26 of the first period. "I don't have any idea to the extent of his knee injury," Bylsma said. "It was unfortunate. He went down on the wall and his skate got caught in a rut. He had a tweak of the knee, so I don't have any idea of the prognosis right now."

What's next

Wild: At the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; SN, FS-N, ALT, NHL.TV)
Sabres: Hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MSG-B, SNO, NHL.TV)