St. Paul, MN -- (Sports Network) - Brent Burns tallied shorthanded to cap a three-goal first period that proved to be enough, as the Minnesota Wild clipped the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, in preseason action from the Xcel Energy Center.

Owen Nolan and Antti Miettinen also scored for the Wild. Josh Harding surrendered one goal on 26 shots before leaving in the third period after taking a stick to the face. The 24-year-old netminder suffered a facial cut after teammate Martin Skoula's stick inadvertently got caught in his mask. Niklas Backstrom stopped five of the six shots he faced in relief.

Daniel Paille and Andrej Sekera found the back of the net for Buffalo, while Ryan Miller finished with 21 saves.