In Buffalo, the streaky Minnesota Wild won their fourth straight with a 3-2 win over the Sabres in the skills competition.
Jason Pominville scored in shootout in Wild win – file photo by Brianna O”Mara
Devan Dubnyk made 30 saves through extra time and then stopped three of four shooters in the skills competition for the win.
Jason Pominville picked up the winning marker in the shootout.
“At first I was kind of laughing at the boos, but then kind of got focused and actually looked a little bit at what [Coyle] did because he’s a righty,” Pominville said. “I like to see what righties do; I just kind of changed the angle and it was pretty much the exact same as when he went and I thought there would be room there and I was able to find a hole.”
The Wild have been improving since the firing of coach Mike Yeo and have won eight of 11 since.
“Confidence is growing and growing. It shows good when you’re winning and we had a little streak going, so it’s been good,” Charlie Coyle said. “We’ve got to keep this thing going, season’s winding down. All the points that we can get here and take one game at a time but we’re growing, we’re feeling good and that’s a good sign.”
Robin Lehner made 28 stops for the Sabres in the loss who are 1-6 in shootouts.
“I think it’s just frustrating with our shootout results so far this year,” Sabres forward Jack Eichel said. “There’s a lot of skilled players on this team. I don’t think we’ve been good enough. The shootout’s an opportunity to grab an extra point. I think as a group we can bear down and start taking advantage of it.”
Davan Dubnyk got the win for Minnesota in Buffalo – file photo by Brianna O’Mara
Mikko Koivu and David Jones scored in regulation for the Wild.
“We weren’t getting bounces earlier and now we’re finding ways,” Pominville said. “[Power play] has been really going well; we’ve climbed in the standings in that aspect and it got a big goal for us tonight. But winning those games where it’s a tight game or you’ve got to come back to win is something that shows a lot about our team for sure.”
Jack Eichel and Johan Larsson scored for the Sabres.
“I think we played well too,” Eichel said. “We had a lot of chances. We did a lot of good things as a team. It’s a tough one to swallow. It’s frustrating.”
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