After beating the Sabres Friday, the Jackets couldn't sustain a repeat winning performance in the second game of a back-to-back and fell to Buffalo 5-3. The two teams are now even on the season series (1-1-0).
In the first period, the Jackets made things look easy. The team came out with an offensive burst. Goals by David Savard, Nick Foligno and Oliver Bjorkstrand propelled the team to a 3-0 lead that chased Anders Nilsson from the net for Buffalo.
But for the rest of the game, Buffalo made things hard. Robin Lehner was in net and the Sabres were the team to capitalize offensively. Buffalo scored five unanswered goals, including three in the second period to tie the game.
The first Sabres goal came on the first shift of the second period and the last came on an empty net score by Jack Eichel.
"We didn't really follow up in the second," Bjorkstrand said. "I think they scored on the first shift and it went south from there. We tried to battle back but they tied it up and ended up getting the win."
After a smooth opening frame, the game got chippy, and the Jackets suffered 28 penalty minutes against while Buffalo was assigned 32 minutes in the penalty box. Only the Sabres could capitalize on their power play chances. They went 2-for-5 while the Jackets were held scoreless in their three opportunities with the man advantage.
What We Learned: BUF 5, CBJ 3
Jackets lose 3-0 first period lead, fall to Sabres