Final
MIN at BUF game report
Tuesday, October 6, 2026 · 7:00 p.m. ET · KeyBank Center
Sabres beat the Wild 3–2 in overtime and earned it, out-chancing them 4.3–1.9 in expected goals and 15–5 in high-danger chances.
- Came back from 2 down
Team comparison
- 3Goals2
- 4.27Expected goals1.86
- 2.625-on-5 expected goals1.20
- 15High-danger chances5
- 28Shots on goal20
- 64Shot attempts48
- 475-on-5 shot attempts38
- 4:15Power-play time7:19
5-on-5 shares for BUF: 55.3% of shot attempts, 68.6% of expected goals.
Expected goals through the game
Each step is a shot; the bigger the step, the better the chance. A goal on a small step was a low-percentage finish.
Shot map
By strength
| BUF at… | Time | Attempts | xG | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 on 5 | 48:26 | 47–38 | 2.62–1.20 | 2–1 |
| Power play | 4:15 | 3–7 | 0.32–0.25 | 0–1 |
| Shorthanded | 7:19 | 6–0 | 0.35–0.00 | 0–0 |
| Other (4 on 4, 3 on 3, empty net) | 4:22 | 8–3 | 0.97–0.41 | 1–0 |
Read pairs as BUF–MIN. “Power play” means BUF had the extra skater.
Goaltending
| Goalie | Saves | SV% | xGA | GSAx |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jesper Wallstedt MIN | 25/28 | .893 | 4.27 | +1.27 |
| Colten Ellis BUF | 18/20 | .900 | 1.86 | -0.14 |
GSAx above zero means the goalie stopped more than an average goalie would have, given the shots faced.
Player ratings
Out of 10, from each player's Game Score (goals, assists, shots, blocks, penalties, faceoffs and 5-on-5 shot and goal differential while on the ice) compared with every NHL game of the last two seasons. 6 is above average, 7 very good, 8 excellent. Goalies are rated on goals saved above expected. ★ = top three of the night. How ratings work
Average ratingSabres6.2Wild5.7
| ★Top three of the night: Owen PowerDBUF | 8.8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 29:04 | 61.7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★Top three of the night: Tage ThompsonFBUF | 7.9 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 20:23 | 45.2 |
| ★Top three of the night: Quinn HughesDMIN | 7.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 29:30 | 62.8 |
| Maxim ShabanovFMIN | 7.2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 17:30 | 52.9 |
| Rasmus DahlinDBUF | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 29:15 | 55.8 |
| Jiri KulichFBUF | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 13:56 | 58.8 |
| Noah OstlundFBUF | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 20:39 | 50.0 |
| Jared SpurgeonDMIN | 6.9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21:49 | 67.9 |
| Danila YurovFMIN | 6.9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14:21 | 60.0 |
| Jesper WallstedtGMIN | 6.9 | 0 | 0 | — | 64:22 | — |
| Peyton KrebsFBUF | 6.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15:21 | 50.0 |
| Matt BoldyFMIN | 6.4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 23:24 | 58.3 |
| Mattias SamuelssonDBUF | 6.3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22:41 | 58.1 |
| Blake ColemanFMIN | 6.2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17:44 | 47.8 |
| Michael McCarronFMIN | 6.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15:16 | 36.8 |
| Zach BensonFBUF | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20:41 | 64.0 |
| Konsta HeleniusFBUF | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13:01 | 81.3 |
| Josh NorrisFBUF | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16:44 | 58.6 |
| Kirill KaprizovFMIN | 5.9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24:58 | 55.2 |
| Jack QuinnFBUF | 5.9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21:45 | 50.0 |
| Ryan McLeodFBUF | 5.9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14:15 | 71.4 |
| Olen ZellwegerDBUF | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14:52 | 62.5 |
| Colten EllisGBUF | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | — | 64:22 | — |
| Joel Eriksson EkFMIN | 5.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20:26 | 57.1 |
| Justin DanforthFBUF | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8:17 | 100.0 |
| Louis CrevierDBUF | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14:19 | 50.0 |
| Beck MalenstynFBUF | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8:28 | 60.0 |
| Nick FolignoFMIN | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:29 | 33.3 |
| Zach BogosianDMIN | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14:12 | 28.6 |
| Bobby BrinkFMIN | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13:34 | 42.9 |
| Daemon HuntDMIN | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14:08 | 28.6 |
| Marcus FolignoFMIN | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13:25 | 25.0 |
| Josh DoanFBUF | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12:05 | 41.7 |
| Zach MetsaDBUF | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10:44 | 26.7 |
| Yakov TreninFMIN | 4.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13:04 | 30.4 |
| Ryan HartmanFMIN | 4.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13:40 | 37.9 |
| Jonas BrodinDMIN | 4.3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19:18 | 31.4 |
| Olli MaattaDMIN | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19:18 | 27.0 |
Lines used
Each team's most-used forward lines and defence pairs at 5 on 5, from the NHL's shift charts · time together · shot attempts for–against · expected goals for–against
Sabres
Forward lines
- Quinn – Ostlund – Benson11:51 · 12–7 · xG 0.8–0.3
- Thompson – Norris – Doan6:46 · 8–11 · xG 0.4–0.4
- Krebs – Kulich – Helenius4:32 · 4–1 · xG 0.0–0.0
- Malenstyn – Danforth – McLeod3:59 · 3–0 · xG 0.1–0.0
Defence pairs
- Samuelsson – Dahlin10:09 · 7–8 · xG 0.3–0.4
- Power – Zellweger7:31 · 7–2 · xG 0.5–0.1
- Crevier – Metsa4:47 · 3–5 · xG 0.1–0.1
Wild
Forward lines
- Kaprizov – Yurov – Shabanov7:57 · 4–5 · xG 0.2–0.2
- Foligno – McCarron – Trenin6:38 · 3–5 · xG 0.0–0.2
- Coleman – Eriksson Ek – Boldy6:01 · 3–3 · xG 0.1–0.1
Defence pairs
- Spurgeon – Hughes15:40 · 17–9 · xG 0.6–0.4
- Brodin – Maatta13:49 · 6–22 · xG 0.3–1.0
- Bogosian – Hunt11:00 · 3–6 · xG 0.1–0.3
Three stars
- ★O. PowerBUF · 1G 1A
- ★★T. ThompsonBUF · 1G 1A
- ★★★N. OstlundBUF · 1G 0A
Scoring
Period 2
- 13:53MIN D. Yurov pp (from J. Spurgeon, B. Coleman)1–0
- 15:38MIN M. Shabanov (from Q. Hughes, M. McCarron)2–0
Period 3
- 03:55BUF N. Ostlund (from O. Power, R. Dahlin)2–1
- 09:38BUF T. Thompson (from P. Krebs)2–2
Overtime
- 04:22BUF O. Power (from J.Kulich, T. Thompson)2–3