Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson zeroes in again, shutting out the Buffalo Sabres

When the Wild are down, they have a knack for getting right back up.

They stymied the Sabres 1-0 on Wednesday night at KeyBank Center to bounce back from the setback they suffered two nights earlier and remain one of only two NHL teams (the Hurricanes are the other) to not drop consecutive games in regulation.

“[I] just continue to like the maturity and the mindset of the team in tight games,” coach John Hynes told reporters in Buffalo, “understanding the game that you’re in and doing what’s required to win in that game.”

This ended only the second two-game skid for the Wild this season: They fell in a 4-3 shootout to the Flames last Saturday before they were stumped 4-1 by the Jets on Monday despite taking a season-high 44 shots.

The Wild weren’t as busy around the Buffalo net, but they didn’t need to be — not when goaltender Filip Gustavsson made a season-high 39 saves (including a whopping 16 in the first period) for his second shutout.

“One was enough,” Hynes said.

In front of Gustavsson, Kirill Kaprizov scored his team-leading 14th goal to help continue the Wild’s excellence away from home (10-1-3); they became first in the league to record 10 victories as the visitor while pushing their road point streak to eight games. This is also the fastest in franchise history the team has reached 10 road wins.

Overall, the Wild are 14-4-4.

Kaprizov capitalized only 6 minutes, 55 seconds into the first period off a rare 4-on-1 rush for the Wild, with the winger burying a give-and-go with Joel Eriksson Ek behind Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (28 saves).

The point was Kaprizov’s 35th after he didn’t factor into the loss to Winnipeg, only the fourth game he’s gone pointless this season in his return from a knee-on-knee hit that sidelined him during that recent game at Calgary.

BOXSCORE: Wild 1, Buffalo 0

NHL standings

In his past 12 road appearances, Kaprizov has racked up nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points.

“Tonight he was truly back to the explosiveness and his skating and his stamina,” Hynes said. “So, it was nice to see that.”

Matt Boldy, who picked up the second assist on Kaprizov’s goal after accepting a Brock Faber pass, has 10 points over his past 10 games.

“It’s always nice when you make a save and score at the other end,” said Gustavsson, who stopped Tage Thompson seconds before Kaprizov’s goal.

Even with Kaprizov back, the Wild’s depth was still being tested.

Jonas Brodin didn’t play on the blue line because of an upper-body injury, and Jakub Lauko is considered day to day after he left Monday’s action early because of a lower-body injury. Marat Khusnutdinov (lower body) missed a third game in a row, and Mats Zuccarello remains out week to week after getting hit by a shot on Nov. 14 and having surgery.

Although they scored first, the Wild didn’t apply much pressure after to extend their lead.

Instead, Buffalo peppered Gustavsson with pucks, including six shots on a pair of power plays. But the Wild penalty kill led by Gustavsson snuffed out both chances for the PK’s first clean performance since giving up three goals to the Flames and Jets.

(The Sabres, who were rested after not playing since Saturday when they swept a California road trip, weren’t whistled for a single penalty.)

A scoreless second period flattered the Wild, who finally started to generate more time in Buffalo territory, but the Sabres were urgent again in the third.

Thompson, who was idle the previous five games because of an injury, finished with six shots and 11 total attempts, but Gustavsson was locked in for every puck Buffalo threw his way — including an uncontested try from Thompson in the final minute.

Gustavsson earned his eighth career shutout to move past Darcy Kuemper for sixth all-time with the Wild and has allowed two or fewer goals in a league-high 12 starts. He’s 10-4-3 with a 2.06 goals-against average and .929 save percentage that are tied for first in the NHL; his .917 save percentage since joining the Wild is third best in the league since 2022-23.

Also key to keeping the puck out of the Wild’s net was the defense: The 31 shots the Wild blocked tied for the second most in team history. Jake Middleton had a game-high seven, while Marco Rossi and Declan Chisholm had four apiece.

“A lot of confidence in Gus back there,” Chisholm said. “We’re just staying tight in front of him, trying to block as many shots as we can for him, and he’s doing the rest.”