For what seems like years now, the first period has been the bane of the Buffalo Sabres existence. Slow starts have doomed them again and again, as the importance of scoring the first goal continues to rise.
Last night, the Sabres not only scored the first goal, but the first three en route to a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Jamie McGinn would open the scoring with his ninth of the season halfway through the first, while Rasmus Ristolainen and Brian Gionta would score their own goals later in the period, just 20 seconds apart.