The Buffalo Sabres were already down two goals to the Minnesota Wild early on, and then their most reliable defenseman got kicked out of the game for doing this to Mikko Koivu:
Rasmus Ristolainen was assessed a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct for the hit, which left Koivu looking like this:
— M. (@MKriegbaumJr) January 5, 2018
Without Ristolainen, who came into the game ranked third in the NHL in time-on-ice per game, the Sabres allowed Wild forward Nino Niederreiter to notch a hat trick, as he tallied twice following the incident after opening the scoring just over a minute in.
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