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Zuccarello’s overtime goal sends Wild to win over red-hot Sabres

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Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Foligno, right, greets right wing Mats Zuccarello (36) after Zuccarello made the game-winning goal in overtime against the Seattle Kraken in an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) (Lindsey Wasson/AP)

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Mats Zuccarello scored 1:47 into overtime to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 5-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Saturday afternoon.

Zuccarello’s winning goal came on the power play after a pass from Kirill Kaprizov, who finished with three assists to help end the Wild’s three-game winless streak.

Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman, Vladimir Tarasenko and Quinn Hughes also scored, and Filip Gustavsson made 20 saves for the Wild.

Ryan McLeod, Peyton Krebs, Jack Quinn and Alex Tuch scored for the Sabres, who lost for only the third time in 18 games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves.

Foligno gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 9:19 of the first period but McLeod tied it 46 seconds later.

Hartman made it 2-1 with eight seconds left in the first when he tapped home a cross-crease pass from Hughes. Tarasenko gave the Wild a 3-1 lead at 1:08 of the second period.

Krebs cut the lead to 3-2 when he tipped a pass from Mattias Samuelsson past Gustavsson with 9:53 left and Quinn tied it up 1:27 later. Tuch’s power-play goal with 3:53 to go gave them a 4-3 lead.

Hughes’ slap shot goal with 2:56 to go in the second made it 4-4.

Up next

Wild: Continue a three-game road trip in Toronto on Monday.

Sabres: Open a five-game road trip in Carolina on Monday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Joe Yerdon, The Associated Press