His third of the night! WATCH @thelnino22's hat trick goal: http://t.co/9L5v7Kq5Ti #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 14, 2014
The Minnesota Wild snapped their four-game losing streak on Thursday night by beating the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 at the Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota scored more goals Thursday night than they had in the previous four games, which had seen them outscored 14-to-3.
Nino Niederreiter had his first career NHL hat trick to lead the Wild. Niederreiter scored two goals in a wild first period, then added his third on an empty net late in the game.
18th #mnwild hat trick of all time. Nino Niederreiter, empty netter
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) November 14, 2014
The story of the game was really that first period as the two teams combined to score six goals. Three of them came within 17 seconds. Trailing 1-0, Ryan Carter put the Wild on the board with his first goal at the 6:07 mark of the first.
Seven seconds later, Niederreiter netted the first of his three goals to give the Wild a 2-1 lead. But that didn’t last long as Buffalo’s Zemgus Girgensons tied the score at two just ten seconds later.
Wild coach Mike Yeo lifted Darcy Kuemper after that second goal. Niklas Backstrom stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced in relief.
Kyle Brodziak put the Wild up for good with his third goal of the season at the 9:21 mark of the first, before Niederreiter ended the first period scoring with his second goal late in the period.
The Wild are off to Dallas on Saturday night for a matchup with the Stars.
Scoring Summary
1st period: 1:03 BUF Rasmus Ristolainen (1) Deflected shot – Assist: Matt Moulson (4), Zemgus Girgensons (4) 1-0 BUF
1st period: 6:07 MIN Ryan Carter (2) Deflected shot – Assist: Kyle Brodziak (1), Justin Fontaine (5) 1-1 tie
1st period: 6:14 MIN Nino Niederreiter (5) Wrist shot – Assist: Charlie Coyle (5) 2-1 MIN
1st period: 6:24 BUF Girgensons (4) Wrist shot – Assist: Tyler Ennis (4), Nikita Zadorov (1) 2-2 tie
1st period: 9:21 MIN Brodziak (3) Wrist shot – Assist: Fontaine (6), Carter (6) 3-2 MIN
1st period: 17:52 MIN Niederreiter (6) Tip-in – Assist: Mikael Granlund (5), Matt Dumba (2) 4-2 MIN
2nd period: 13:50 MIN Jared Spurgeon (3) Wrist shot – Assist: Jason Pominville (5), Mikko Koivu (2) 5-2 MIN
3rd period: 12:56 BUF Torrey Mitchell (2) Snap shot – Assist: Drew Stafford (7), Nicolas Deslauries (2) 5-3 MIN
3rd period: 17:32 MIN EN Niederreiter (7) Wrist shot – Assist: Charlie Coyle (6), Ryan Suter (8) 6-3 MIN
