BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Wild got captain Jared Spurgeon back on Friday, but no one player is going to change the narrative for Minnesota, which finally got a decent start only to watch another mistake turn into the go-ahead goal.

J.J. Peterka scored twice, and his steal at the blue line led to Jeff Skinner’s go-ahead goal on a breakaway early in the third period as the Buffalo Sabres held off the Wild, 3-2, at KeyCenter Arena.

Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek scored power-play goals, but the Wild ended their three-game trip through New York with consecutive losses. They lost to the Rangers on Thursday when a Brock Faber pinch turned into a three-on-one go-ahead goal in a 4-1 loss at Madison Square Garden.

This time, Jonas Brodin dropped a pass back to Kaprizov at the Sabres’ blue line late in the second period with the game tied 1-1. Kaprizov reared back to send the puck deep, but Peterka poked it away before it got to him.

That sent Peterka and Jeff Skinner the other way, and Skinner beat Filip Gustavsson left side to make it 2-1. Peterka buried a one-timer off a rush early in the third period for a 3-1 lead the Wild couldn’t match.

Eriksson Ek pulled the Wild within a goal on a power play with 7:33 remaining, the 100th goal of his career. But Minnesota, which pulled Gustavsson with just under two minutes remaining, could never catch up.

Gustavsson made 26 saves.

Spurgeon, playing his first game since being injured in a preseason game on Oct. 5, deflected a pass off the post in the final seconds, but Devon Levi made 31 saves for the Sabres, who improved to 6-1-1 against the Wild in the teams’ last eight meetings.

After 18 minutes of back-and-forth chances, the Sabres broke the seal when Henri Jokiharju sent a wrist shot from the high slot through traffic to beat a screened Gustavsson for a 1-0 lead at 18:02.

It was the 22nd first-period goal the Wild have surrendered this season, most in the NHL, but this time they answered. With 1:26 left in the period, Ryan Johnson was penalized for cross-checking Ryan Hartman, and the Wild began their second power play.

The teams went to a faceoff in the Sabres’ zone with 37.7 seconds left, and Joel Eriksson Ek won the draw. Mats Zuccarello corralled it and passed to Matt Boldy, who turned and sent a cross between the circles to an open Kaprizov, who one-timed in through the pads of a diving Devon Levi to tie the game 1-1 at 19:30.

The Wild nearly added another goal before the period ended when Eriksson Ek skated a puck to the crease and pulled it back before trying to stuff it into a corner from behind the net. It was a good scoring chance, and the center banged his stick on the ice after the buzzer sounded.

The second period played out in similar fashion, the teams trading blows without luck until the last two minutes, when a big play by Paterka started a breakaway finished by Jeff Skinner after the Wild had just won a draw in Buffalo’s end.

Brock Faber corralled the puck and sent it cross ice to Brodin on the left board. The defenseman moved a soft pass back to the blue line for Kaprizov, but Peterka poked it away — and forward — as Kaprizov was winding up to send the puck deep. Skinner took control and skated at Gustavsson.

When the goalie committed, Skinner went to his left and skid the puck into the left corner between the post and Gustavsson skate for a 2-1 lead at 19:02.

Buffalo quickly built on that lead in the third period, which started with more than a minute of power play time for the Sabres because Kaprizov was called for interference late in the second period.

The Wild killed that power play, but a couple of minutes later, Tage Thompson skated hard out of his zone and past the Wild’s blue line and dropped the puck to Skinner. He sent it back to Thompson down behind the goal, and he zipped a pass to the crease, where Peterka was waiting for a one-timer.

That made it 3-1 Buffalo at 3:33.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Playing prep hockey for Edina, Jimmy Clark said he learned to love being on the team that everyone in the audience hated. Perhaps that experience served the Minnesota Gophers rookie well in his first trip to Yost Ice Arena — known as one of the most hostile places for visiting teams in all of college hockey.

Clark scored late in the second period and again in the third as the Gophers rallied from a two-goal deficit and beat Michigan 4-3 on Friday in one of their biggest road tests of the season.

The Gophers (5-3-1 overall, 1-2-0-0 Big Ten) got their first conference win thanks in large part to a 37-save performance from goalie Justen Close. Bryce Brodzinski got Minnesota on the board after it trailed less than two minutes into the game, and Brody Lamb netted the game-winner with 3:28 to play. Gophers coach Bob Motzko admitted that Close may have stolen the game for Minnesota, which was dominated by the Wolverines for long stretches of the game.

“Every once in a while it’s called ‘highway robbery’ and we got away with one tonight,” Motzko said in a postgame press conference. “We were doing fine until we took our penalties and that reared its head. They got the 3-1 lead and we were not good until Jimmy Clark gets a big goal. …That gave us a game again. Without that there was no game.”

Michigan fell to 5-5-1 overall and 1-3-1-0 in the conference despite getting goals from Frank Nazar, Rutger McGroarty and Dylan Duke. The Wolverines took a 3-1 lead into the final seconds of the middle period before Clark started Minnesota’s comeback.

“It’s huge to show the team we were in this game and we can beat these guys,” Clark said. “It might not have been our best night, but we can get it done and that’s what we did.”

All week, Motzko had warned his team about the danger of taking penalties versus the Wolverines, who have the nation’s most dangerous power play. And then, in the second period, the Gophers did just what the coach had warned them against. Duke and McGroarty scored man-advantage goals, and the Wolverines took a commanding lead at home.

Minnesota’s best chance to get back into the game in the second came when Michigan’s Mark Estapa was ejected for contact to the head on Gophers forward John Mittelstadt. But Michigan stood firm and killed the five-minute major penalty.

But Clark started the rally in the final seconds of the period, getting his second collegiate goal, then knotted it in the third, finishing off a rush to the net with Connor Kurth. Lamb’s game-winner gave him his first three-point game as a collegian. The Gophers closed it out despite a frantic Michigan push with goalie Jacob Barczewski on the bench.

“Our D core did a great job those last five minutes, good sticks, taking bodies and kept them off the score sheet,” Lamb said.

Barczewski finished with 23 saves for Michigan, which has now lost three in a row.

Extra pucks

The Gophers were without center Aaron Huglen, who was ill all week and did not make the trip to Michigan. It was the second year in a row that he has missed the road games versus the Wolverines due to illness.

With freshman goalie Nathan Airey still not at full health and unable to travel to Michigan, the Gophers have officially added sophomore Matt Bryant to the roster. Originally from La Crosse, Wis., Bryant skated for the U’s club team last year and was officially listed as their third goalie on Friday, behind Close and sophomore Zach Wiese.

John Mittelstadt, who wears No. 19, left the game in the second period after he was bloodied by the high hit from Estapa. The Gophers forward returned to the game in the third period wearing a No. 25 jersey with no nameplate on the back, as his regular jersey was bloodied in the collision.

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St. Paul’s Clutch Brewing Company announced on social media that it is going out of business at the end of the year.

The brewer, which is one of the main tenants in the Keg & Case Market at the old Schmidt Brewery on West Seventh Street, said it’s had a wild five years in business and made the announcement with a “heavy heart.”

“So many good times were had and providing a one-of-a-kind, safe, accepting, warm place to enjoy a delicious, locally-made beer has been an absolute honor for us.”

The brewery noted that were many factors in the decision to close, but ultimately it was not “sustainable” to keep the brewery running.

“Also, we still have plenty of beer to be consumed! Stop by and help us go out the right way: with a craft beer in hand and good times shared with friends and family. Thank you all!”

Keg & Case opened to much fanfare in 2018, with Clutch Brewing as one of the anchor tenants of the food hall.

However, the 2020 coronavirus pandemic led to a prolonged closing that took a toll on many of the vendors that leased space in the reclaimed brewery warehouse, which was rated the nation’s “best new food hall” by USA Today in 2019. Among them were In Bloom and Woodfired Cantina, which closed in succession after occupying Keg & Case’s only sit-down restaurant space.

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The Ravens play the Browns for the second time this season Sunday, this time at M&T Bank Stadium, and Cleveland again comes into the critical AFC North showdown banged up.

Unlike the first meeting in Cleveland, the Browns (5-3) have starting quarterback Deshaun Watson. But they won’t have starting right tackle Dawand Jones (knee/shoulder) nor wide receivers Marquise Goodwin (concussion) and David Bell (knee), with all three ruled out on Friday’s injury report.

With Jones out and fellow offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. being placed on injured reserve earlier this week, that means backup James Hudson III is set to start against a Ravens defense that leads the NFL in sacks. The Browns also listed starting cornerback Greg Newsome II (groin) and third-string running back Pierre Strong Jr. (hamstring) as questionable.

Wide receiver Amari Cooper (ankle), tight end David Njoku (knee) and defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo (groin) all fully practiced Friday after being limited a day earlier.

Baltimore (7-2), on the other hand, remains healthy.

Cornerback Marlon Humphrey (hamstring), running back Keaton Mitchell (hamstring), right tackle Morgan Moses (shoulder) and cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (illness) are all listed as questionable. However, only Humphrey, who was not on the field when the team ended practice at its indoor facility in Owings Mills, was limited Friday.

Wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. (knee) and Rashod Bateman (back), nose tackle Michael Pierce (illness) and safety Marcus Williams (hamstring) also practiced fully Friday and did not have an injury designation for the game.

Humphrey has been one of the NFL’s best corners since missing the first four games of the season after undergoing foot surgery in mid-August. Mitchell, an undrafted rookie, rushed for 138 yards on nine carries in his regular-season debut Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks after suffering a shoulder injury in the preseason.

Moses, whose streak of 134 consecutive starts ended in Week 5, missed Sunday’s win but has been a full participant in practice throughout the week. Patrick Mekari has been his replacement.

Williams has missed six games this season, including the past three, but Geno Stone has been a more-than-capable fill-in with a league-leading six interceptions alongside versatile safety Kyle Hamilton.

“We’ve [played] very tough teams [and] in very physical games, and I feel like our guys have handled it very well,” coach John Harbaugh said Friday. “We have to continue to do it, because we have this game against the Browns, which is a division game. It’s going to be a physical game. … Our job is to handle it better than our opponents do.”

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