After 28 days of mostly good news, the Minnesota Wild could not reach the end of their November schedule on a fully happy note.

Facing the Eastern Conference’s worst team, Minnesota saw the Buffalo Sabres rally for a 3-2 shootout win on Saturday at Grand Casino Arena.

Noah Ostlund scored the decisive goal for the Sabres in the fourth round of the shootout.

The Wild got first-period goals from Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, holding the lead in all three periods, but saw their seven-game winning streak snapped. Against downtrodden Buffalo, they couldn’t build on the momentum from beating Colorado in a shootout a night earlier.

“There was a lot of depleted energy last night, just with the hype, two high-octane teams,” Wild defenseman Jake Middleton said. “But I don’t think tonight that was really a factor. Maybe a back-to-back more than anything. A lot of hockey so far this year.”

Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson, under duress for much of the final 30 minutes, had 30 saves in the loss. The Wild finished November with a 11-1-2 record. It was the Wild’s fifth time in overtime or a shootout in their past seven games.

Tage Thompson and Jack Quinn also scored for the Sabres in the shootout, while the Wild got shootout goals from Boldy and Kaprizov.

“Overall, I thought I played fine throughout the whole game,” Gustavsson said, as he fell to 7-7-3 this season. “Except the shootout. I lost my patience a little bit. I didn’t hold my edges long enough out there. They saw that, and went around me.”

The game was barely a minute old when Sabres goalie Colten Ellis had to make a sprawling left toe save to stop Kaprizov’s wraparound shot from crossing the goal line.

The reprieve was not lengthy, as Mats Zuccarello’s cross-ice pass to Kaprizov before the first period was half over ended with Kaprizov’s team-leading 17th goal and Zuccarello’s 700th career NHL point, giving the Wild an early lead.

After Buffalo drew even, Boldly stole the puck from Alex Tuch along the boards, cut to the net and popped a low shot between Ellis’ knees.

“I thought we were ready to play the game, but we just didn’t have enough throughout the 60 minutes of sustaining that to give us a chance to be able to win the game,” Wild coach John Hynes said.

The visitors dominated long stretches of the middle frame, but Gustavsson was solid, stopping all 11 shots the Sabres threw his way.

After pressing the Wild for around 10 minutes, Buffalo tied the game for a second time on a classic fluky bounce. A Sabres’ shot caromed off the glass behind Gustavsson and bounced back toward the crease. Zuccarello tried to swat the puck out of danger with his hand, only to have it bounce off his glove and into the net.

“They came out hard and we had a tough time getting out of our zone, and then they got some pressure there, but I think we defended well,” Zuccarello said. “Obviously, it was an unlucky goal and I put it in the net. When you’re not at your best, you’re gonna lose in this league.”

Ellis finished with 22 saves for the Sabres, as he participated in his first NHL shootout. They will face the Wild again, in Buffalo, on Jan. 17.

The Wild will begin December with a four-game western road trip, which begins Tuesday evening when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for a 8 p.m. CT first faceoff.

Briefly

The Wild’s forward unit got a bit healthier before the game. Vladimir Tarasenko returned from a lower body injury that caused him to miss the previous seven games. His return, playing left wing on the third line with Ryan Hartman at center and Liam Ohgren on the other wing, meant Ben Jones was scratched.

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