In his latest masterpiece in what has been a tremendous start to his season, Filip Gustavsson made 39 saves and the Wild blocked a season-high 32 shots — the fourth-ever 30-plus blocked shot regular-season effort from the team — in a 1-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
Gustavsson improved to 10-4-3 this season and has allowed two goals or fewer in 12 of 17 starts. It was Minnesota’s 24th all-time 1-0 win and first in two years.
The Wild improved to a league-best 10-1-3 on the road and are 6-0-2 in their past eight away from Minnesota.
“Starting on the road with that long (seven-game) road trip, we learned how to play on the road really quick and we’ve become really tight on the road,” said defenseman Declan Chisholm, who was strong in an elevated second-pair role with Jonas Brodin out with an upper-body injury. “It was a gritty win.”
The Wild have now gone 22 games this season without losing consecutive games in regulation.
Kirill Kaprizov scored 6:55 into the first period to give him points in his past 12 road games. That would be all the Wild would need because of Gustavsson’s perfection and one gritty effort by the Wild’s long list of shot blockers.
The Wild returned home after the game, will take Thanksgiving off for a big feast at captain Jared Spurgeon’s home and then host the Chicago Blackhawks on a Black Friday matinee before the Nashville Predators visit Saturday night.
VERY well deserved 🚌#EasyToCelebrate x @budlight pic.twitter.com/isV7UmF3W4
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 28, 2024
Gustavsson gets lots of help from his friends
On a night where the Wild weren’t very connected offensively in the first two periods before a much improved third, Gustavsson was there to stop pucks, control rebounds and get the Wild out of trouble numerous times.
But he was also helped by his defenders, who blocked 32 shots — one off the franchise record since in San Jose in 2011.
Jake Middleton logged a game-high 24:49 and blocked seven shots. Chisholm and Marco Rossi had four blocked shots each.
“It’s invigorating for the bench to see the numerous blocked shots — big blocked shots, like one-timers and big shots,” coach John Hynes said. “The commitment level was there.”
The Sabres had an 87-55 edge on shot attempts. Tage Thompson, Jack Quinn and Alex Tuch combined for 18 of Buffalo’s shots.
Gustavsson ranks tied for first in the NHL in save percentage (.929) and goals-against average (2.06).
“They’re a very good offensive team,” Gustavsson said. “We knew they were going to get chances. But we blocked a fair amount of shots out there and limited their chances. It was a really good effort from our side.”
Guuuuuuuss 🚌
Filip Gustavsson stops all 39 shots and picks up the eighth @pepsi shutout of his career! pic.twitter.com/5zsj15wT90
— NHL (@NHL) November 28, 2024
Wild strike first again
The Sabres played a strong game defensively, but they made one first-period blemish and it ended up in the back of their net.
For the NHL-best 15th time in 22 games, the Wild struck first on Kaprizov’s 14th goal and 35th point, which at least temporarily put him in a three-way tie for the NHL scoring lead.
Brock Faber quickly countered and led to a rarely seen four-on-one up the ice. At the last moment, it felt like the Wild were overpassing when Matt Boldy sent the puck to Kaprizov and he sent the puck back to Joel Eriksson Ek. But Eriksson Ek, instead of shooting, put the puck on a platter for Kaprizov to bury for a 1-0 lead.
It marked the start of a rebound game for the Wild’s top line after a tough night two days earlier against Winnipeg.
Another look at KK97🤌 pic.twitter.com/nhvBSgTcoW
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 28, 2024
Wild injuries starting to mount
The Wild’s depth is starting to be strained.
With forwards Mats Zuccarello and Marat Khusnutdinov already hurt, veteran defenseman Jonas Brodin (upper body) and left wing Jakub Lauko (lower body) didn’t play against Buffalo. Both are deemed day-to-day, but the Wild were awaiting the results of Lauko’s MRI Wednesday and expected him to miss time.
The Wild accrued a decent amount of cap space to start the season because of their relatively good health, but they can’t currently afford to recall another player. They are getting awfully close to having to play a man short for one game in order to be allowed to recall players.
However, one saving grace? Khusnutdinov could be back from his lower-body injury on Friday. If so and Brodin can’t return, the Wild could swap forward Ben Jones, Devin Shore or Travis Boyd for a defenseman, if needed.
(Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig / Imagn Images)
