Reinhart and Kane score for Buffalo in the 6-2 loss to the Wild.
By Jessi Pierce / NHL.com Correspondent
ST. PAUL, MN. — Nino Niederreiter scored a hat trick in his return from an ankle injury, and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Buffalo Sabres 6-2 at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.
Daniel Winnik, Mikko Koivu and Charlie Coyle also scored, and Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves for Minnesota (22-16-3), which is 4-1-0 in its past five games.
Niederreiter, who missed five games, made it 1-0 at 1:09 of the first period and scored on the power play at 13:53 to make it 3-0. He scored his third goal at 4:02 of the second period for a 4-0 score. It was Niederreiter’s second NHL career hat trick, each coming against Buffalo (Nov. 13, 2014).
Winnik gave the Wild a 2-0 lead at 2:15 of the first.
Koivu made it 5-0 at 13:07 of the second period with a shot from the slot. Coyle scored off a pass by Zach Parise with 45 seconds remaining in the second to make it 6-0.
Sabres forward Sam Reinhart ended the shutout at 1:54 of the third period with a backhand in the slot. Evander Kane scored with 1:01 remaining.
Robin Lehner made 11 saves through two periods for Buffalo (10-21-9), which lost its second straight game. Chad Johnson made 10 saves in relief.