The Blue Jackets had some good moments over the next few minutes but it slowly started to fall apart amid a period marked by a lack of energy and poor defending. The Jackets paid for it at 7:59 and 9:39 as Sam Reinhart and Tage Thompson scored similar goals when left wide open in the slot, with Bobrovsky unable to do much to stop either shot.
"It's funny about the first, I actually thought our first five minutes were really good, and then they kind of pushed and we didn't have that competitive edge that we need to have where you're hard on pucks, you're making the right plays, you're grinding," Foligno said. "We just didn't do it enough until the second."
Columbus needed just 21 seconds in the second period to make it a 3-2 game as the team scored on its first power-play since Martin St. Louis arrived as special teams consultant. Foligno took a pass from Artemi Panarin down low and was stopped by Hutton, but he followed the rebound and jammed it home from the crease.
But it took exactly 21 seconds for Buffalo to restore its two-goal lead. Jeff Skinner came in a lone on a feed by Jack Eichel, only to have his original shot stopped by Bobrovsky, but the goalie's momentum carried him - and the puck - into the net behind him.
A number of listless minutes followed, but Columbus scored twice late in the frame to make it 4-4 after two periods. Brandon Dubinsky made it a 4-3 game with 3:08 left as Josh Anderson centered it to Scott Harrington, and Dubinsky deflected his shot past Hutton and just over the line.
Then with 32.8 left in the period, Atkinson tied things up. As the puck squirted back to the blue line, Murray charged forward to keep it in, and the puck went right to the stick of Atkinson, who didn't miss from in front for his 28th goal of the season.
