'We deserve this' | Sabres defy trends in comeback win over Wild

Kirill Kaprisov scored with 55.5 seconds remaining in the second period, and suddenly the Sabres had a much steeper mountain to climb than their one-score deficit suggested.
The Minnesota Wild was the Western Conference's top team entering Thursday. The Wild was 11-0-0 when leading after two periods. It was 10-2-0 at home, undefeated in its last six at Xcel Energy Center. If the Sabres did manage to force overtime, the Wild was 6-1 in games decided past regulation.
That memo never reached the Sabres.

"The message (after two periods) was simple," coach Don Granato said. "It's a very, very winnable game because of the work they put in and they deserve to win. … The response in the third period was one of ownership. 'We deserve this game.' And they went after it."

Mark Pysyk scored the tying goal with 7:57 remaining, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was lights out down the stretch and Tage Thompson scored the decisive goal in a shootout to clinch a 3-2 win for Buffalo.
The Sabres have won two games in a row to open their road trip, which concludes Friday against the Penguins. What was a seven-game winless skid has flipped into a three-game point streak dating back to Saturday's shootout loss to the Capitals.
Granato, as he has all season, hammered a message of playing with confidence and keeping the focus on improvement after a series of high-scoring losses to Seattle, Carolina, and Florida early in the month. He was disappointed when those games bled into a tentative 2-0 loss to Anaheim.
Things turned from there, even if the results were slow to follow. The Sabres had the game-tying goal incorrectly taken off the board in a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers, one of the premier teams in the Eastern Conference. They rang two posts in the shootout against the Capitals.
"We've had what you might think is bad luck if you recount games," Granato said. "But you've got to keep moving on. And I say moving on - never, ever, ever stop growing and focus on that growth.
"I refer to our practices a lot and you watch our practices. They're intense. The guys are practicing with intent to get better. You see them improve in practice execution and you know there will be a lag, but eventually they're going to start executing at that proficiency in the game."
The Sabres played undeterred hockey in the face of physical play from the Wild and a solid first period from goaltender Cam Talbot. They outshot the Wild 21-16 during the opening 20 minutes but trailed 1-0 on a goal from defenseman Jon Merrill.
Dylan Cozens (more on him in a moment) scored the tying goal in the second period before Kaprisov, the reigning Calder Trophy winner, found the five-hole during the final minute.
"I think [we stayed] calm throughout that," Thompson said. "Obviously, we had a really good first period and they had the lead, but it didn't affect us. We just kept going and we got the result."
In doing so, they checked a box that was previously unfilled this season. Just as the Wild had not lost when leading, the Sabres had not yet won a game in which they trailed after two periods entering Thursday.
Again, this is a team that's growing.
"That's our entire focus is on growth," Granato said. "We're gonna stay with it regardless of results."

Cozens and the Class of 2019

Cozens tipped a shot from the point from Henri Jokiharju for his eighth goal of the season, one of five shots on goal he generated against Talbot.
The goal broke a three-way tie with Anaheim's Trevor Zegras and Vancouver's Nils Hoglander for the most this season among players selected in the 2019 NHL Draft. Cozens' 15 points rank second in that group to Zegras, who has 23.

The UPL report

Luukkonen made his fifth straight start and turned away 30 of 32 shots, maintaining his .939 save percentage in the process.
Granato once again found himself discussing the confident presence of the 6-foot-5 goaltender, who was beaten from distance by both Merrill and Kaprisov. He responded with a point-blank stop on Marcus Foligno during the final seconds of regulation and multiple clutch saves in overtime.
"His body language tells it all," Granato said. "He's out again, challenging Kaprisov on the shot and a lot of times guys that are that hot in the league, shooters and scorers who are that dynamic, they're intimidating to the defenseman, they're intimidating to the goalie and they give them a little extra time and space. That wasn't the case at all tonight.
"I thought our defensemen were great in that regard and I thought UPL was great."

Pysyk connects down low

Pysyk found a lane at the back side of the net for his first goal of the season, which tied the game during the third period. The sequence began with good work down low by Mark Jankowski, who earned his first point with the Sabres, and a heads-up feed across the net from Vinnie Hinostroza.

"Hinostroza made an unbelievable play and Pysyk jumping down from the far blue line, he hadn't done that all game," Granato said. "So, they sensed it. They had that killer instinct."

Up next

The road trip concludes in Pittsburgh on Friday. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7.