Five players score for Blue Jackets in win against Sabres

COLUMBUS -- Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves, falling 2:34 shy of his second shutout of the season, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-1 at Nationwide Arena on Wednesday.
Columbus (6-3-0) ended a two-game losing streak to start a four-game homestand.

Buffalo (3-6-2) had a two-game winning streak end.
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
Seth Griffith scored his first goal of the season for the Sabres to make it 4-1 and prevent Bobrovsky from his 21st career NHL shutout. Josh Anderson made it 5-1 with 39 seconds left.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored in the first period for Columbus, and after Bobrovsky stopped a Ryan O'Reilly break early in the second, Seth Jones, Matt Calvert and Nick Foligno scored in a 2:59 span for a 4-0 lead.

"I'm disappointed in myself," O'Reilly said. "That's the chance, the spark we need. We're not scoring many goals. You can't get an opportunity much better than that."
The Blue Jackets scored five goals for the fourth time this season.
"It's the momentum. Guys are feeling it," Foligno said. "When they see other lines do it everyone wants to jump in. You saw it tonight. Every line scored."
Bjorkstrand scored for the second straight game for a 1-0 lead at 12:00 with a power-play goal for the second unit. Boone Jenner provided the screen for Bjorkstrand's snap shot from the right circle for his second goal.
After 18 unsuccessful power plays, the Blue Jackets scored for the second time in four tries in two games.
Jones made it 2-0 with 4:40 left in the second with a shot from the left circle that got past Chad Johnson, who started a night after Robin Lehner shut out the Detroit Red Wings 1-0. Jones has two goals.
Foligno's goal, after a review, made it 3-0 with 2:22 to go. Jack Johnson skated deep and had the initial shot that came off Chad Johnson and then hit Foligno's skate. The puck glided in without him using a distinct kicking motion. He has three goals.

That each of those goals in the period came off the rush was not lost on Griffith.
"We gave them opportunities," he said. "They have good players who are going to capitalize."
Calvert scored with 1:41 remaining when he poked the puck in after Markus Nutivaara's shot trickled behind Johnson and sat in the crease. Johnson made 33 saves.
"It was good to score two or three goals in a row to settle things down," Bobrovsky said.
Anderson, moved to the top line with Foligno and Artemi Panarin in the third period, responded with his second goal of the season.

Goal of the game

It was Bjorkstrand's play at the blue line that kept the puck in the zone at the right point that led to his goal. After stopping the clearance, he skated ahead a few strides then dropped a pass to Jones at the right point. Jones sent the puck cross-ice to Sonny Milano, and the rookie forward made the final pass to Bjorkstrand.

Save of the game

Bobrovsky faced down O'Reilly's breakaway at 7:19 of the second period. O'Reilly stole the puck from Zach Werenski at the Blue Jackets blue line and had a clear path. He stick-handled then shot low, but Bobrovsky stuck out his right pad to make his 17th save of the game.

Highlight of the game

Jones' goal showed the willingness of the defense to get involved in the attack. Cam Atkinson carried the play into the zone. He made a pass to Brandon Dubinsky on the right wing and Dubinsky's touch pass enabled Jones to step into his shot. "A good play by the forwards," Jones said. "All I have to do is go out there with them and they seem to make the right play. I saw an opportunity to jump. I'm going to be aggressive when I can be."

They said it

"How do we react to that? We understand it's a big turning point. It could be a tied game right there, but how to you react from that point moving forward, the mental toughness of that. We just lost a little bit of discipline in our game." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley on the save by Sergei Bobrovsky on Ryan O'Reilly
"It was a slop fest. If [Bobrovsky] didn't play the way he played in the first period it could have been reversed a little bit." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella

Need to know

Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons returned after missing three games with a lower-body injury. … The Sabres are 2-1-0 in the second game of back-to-back sets. … Foligno has goals in two straight and three of the past four games. … The Columbus defense accounted for a goal and four assists.

What's next

Sabres: Host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; SN, MSG-B, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, TSN3, NHL.TV)