Ostlund’s ‘sick moves’ secure Sabres’ shootout win in Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Some AHL-level intel helped the Buffalo Sabres collect two points on Saturday at Grand Casino Arena.

A shootout between the Sabres and Wild was tied 2-2 after three rounds, and Minnesota’s Vladimir Tarasenko missed the net in the top of the fourth. Over the boards hopped Noah Ostlund, who got goalie Filip Gustavsson to bite on a backhand deke before burying a forehand shot. It was the rookie forward’s first shootout chance as an NHLer, but not as a pro.

“We’d done some research on the reports from the minors, and what came back is, they said, ‘He’s sick. He’s got some sick moves,’” coach Lindy Ruff recalled postgame. “… He’s going [fourth], for sure.”

Those ‘sick moves’ secured a 3-2 win for the Sabres, who rode Colten Ellis’ goaltending, strong defensive play and some friendly bounces to snap Minnesota’s seven-game winning streak.

If a team ever deserved some puck luck, it was the Sabres after Friday’s 42-shot shutout loss to New Jersey. Against the Wild, in a welcome turn of events, the hockey gods seemed to intervene twice on Buffalo’s behalf.

First, shortly after Kirill Kaprizov had put Minnesota up 1-0 in the opening period, forward Peyton Krebs tossed a puck toward Gustavsson’s crease. The rebound bounced off a crashing-the-net Beck Malenstyn and in, giving Malenstyn his third goal in the last seven games.

That straight-ahead, no-nonsense game worked well all night for the line of Krebs, Malenstyn and Josh Dunne, which dominated shots (7-1), shot attempts (11-5) and scoring chances (4-2) at 5-on-5. Malenstyn also drew a penalty and hit a crossbar.

“We got a great game out of that fourth line – got good energy, got a goal out of them,” Ruff said.

Then, 6:01 into the third period, Buffalo tied it 2-2 on one of the more bizarre plays of the season. Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin wiped out at center ice, allowing Josh Doan to speed ahead for a rush chance. Gustavsson blockered it back to the glass, but the rebound popped right back in front of the net, where Mats Zuccarello gloved in an own goal.

“That’s a whole tale of unfortunate events for them the whole way down the ice,” Doan joked. “… I thought I was the only one who knew where it was coming off the glass, but he found it and put it in for me.”

“I think we might’ve deserved that, with all the bad luck we’ve been having the last couple games,” added Ostlund.

Productive offensive-zone shifts and promising scoring chances had come up empty throughout Friday’s loss and in the later stages of Wednesday’s at Pittsburgh. But the Sabres trusted their getting bodies and pucks to the net, which they continued against the Wild, would eventually pay off.

“We’ve got to find a way to score more dirty goals, and tonight we scored two of the dirtier ones that you can find,” Doan said. “But I think that’s something you’re gonna see from us moving forward. We’ve got a good team off the rush, but we’ve got to find a way to create secondary scoring off of bounces and loose pucks and building walls off the back post. I think (if) we can do that, we can continue to score a little bit more and produce a little more offense.”

Nothing has come easily for the Sabres away from KeyBank Center, and Saturday was yet another closely contested road game. Those bounces helped, of course, but Buffalo did the work to take advantage of them and collect two much-needed points.

“On the road against a good team, a team that was on a roll, we played the game the right way all night,” Ruff said. “We had a lot of good opportunities that didn’t go in, but by playing the game the right way, we finally caught a break.”

Here’s more from the shootout win.

Ellis takes his turn

A pattern has emerged since the Sabres have rostered three goalies: perform well when you get your chance, and you’ll probably start again two nights later. If that holds, Ellis figures to play Monday after making 22 saves for his fourth NHL win.

In his first appearance since Nov. 19 – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon got their opportunities in the meantime – Ellis couldn’t exactly ease into things, as he stopped a Kaprizov wraparound bid on the opening shift. He stood tall after allowing two first-period goals and benefitted from a strong defensive performance in front of him, with the Sabres allowing just 11 total shots between the second and third periods.

Ellis’ clutchest moment came during the 3-on-3 overtime, when Minnesota’s Brock Faber had two Grade-A opportunities to end the game. But the rookie netminder didn’t flinch in his first NHL overtime.

“He's been amazing for us,” Doan said. “All three of our goalies have been really good. We’ve let them down a couple times, and he battled hard for us tonight and took us into a shootout.”

Ellis admittedly didn’t shine in the shootout, with two missed shots and two goals against, but no harm, no foul.

“The boys bailed me out there pretty good,” he said. “We do a lot of shootouts back home (at practice), but I think we’re gonna have to do a couple more, now.”

Up next

The Sabres return home to face the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Tickets are available here.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with MSG’s pregame coverage beginning at 7.