Wild 7, Sabres 0
Zach Parise was one of four players with a goal and an assist and Devan Dubnyk recorded a shutout in his debut with visiting Minnesota, which ended its six-game winless streak in style.
Dubnyk - acquired from Arizona on Wednesday - turned aside 18 shots for the Wild, who broke out in a big way after scoring just 10 goals during their skid. Thomas Vanek, Eric Haula and Kyle Brodziak also registered a goal and an assist apiece, Matt Cooke and defensemen Matt Dumba and Jared Spurgeon also scored and Jason Pominville collected three assists.
Jhonas Enroth made 30 saves in the Sabres' ninth straight loss. Buffalo has been outscored 39-9 over the course of the slide.
Parise put Minnesota on the board 5:13 into the contest, chipping a loose puck over Enroth for a goal that was upheld after video review. Vanek doubled the advantage with just under a minute remaining in the first period, one-timing captain Mikko Koivu's pass from the slot during a power play.
Brodziak (short-handed) and Dumba struck 3:06 apart in the second to extend the lead to 4-0, and Spurgeon added to the onslaught at 18:54 with a shot from the point that eluded a wave of traffic in front to beat Enroth. Cooke made it 6-0 at 4:26 of the third as his attempted pass glanced off the skate of Buffalo's Phil Varone and past Enroth, and Haula capped the rout with a man-advantage tally with 93 seconds remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Enroth prevented Vanek from scoring a second goal in the middle period, robbing him twice from point-blank range. ... Buffalo went 0-for-3 on the power play and has scored just 11 times with the man advantage while allowing a league-high eight short-handed tallies. ... The seven-goal victory margin for the Wild was the most lopsided in franchise history. ... Dubnyk, who posted his 10th career shutout and second this season, became the first Minnesota goaltender to debut with a blanking.