Blue Jackets defeat Sabres in OT for first victory of season

COLUMBUS -- Alexandre Texier scored at 2:08 of overtime to give the Columbus Blue Jackets their first win of the season, 4-3 against the Buffalo Sabres at Nationwide Arena on Monday.

Victor Olofsson tied it 3-3 for the Sabres with 1:14 left in the third period. He scored with Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner in the penalty box for delay of game (face-off violation) and goalie Linus Ullmark pulled for the extra attacker.
Nick Foligno, who gave Columbus a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 6:46 of the third, stole the puck from Jack Eichel in the right corner and passed to Texier in the slot for the rookie's first goal of the season and second in five NHL games.
"Foligno] did a great job," Texier said. "I just called out, but he probably didn't hear me. When he turned, I was alone in the middle."
***[WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Blue Jackets highlights]*
Foligno and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had a goal and an assist, and Joonas Korpisalo made 15 saves for Columbus, which lost its first two games of the season, including 7-2 at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
Marcus Johansson and Jeff Skinner scored, and Ullmark made 40 saves in his first start of the season for Buffalo (2-0-1), which was trying to start 3-0-0 for the first time since 2008-09.
"After a couple of games where everything went our way, we struggled to find our game, especially in the first period. Linus game us a chance," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "We still showed character tonight to come back from two down, thanks to Linus buying us some time."
The Blue Jackets avoided starting 0-3-0 for the first time since losing their first eight games to begin 2015-16.
"I don't think we played bad in the first two," coach John Tortorella said. "I think we played a more complete game in this one here."
Bjorkstrand, playing his 200th NHL game, gave Columbus its first lead of the season when he scored to make it 1-0 at 18:09 of the first period.

Cam Atkinson made it 2-0 at 19:05 when he scored on the power play.
"We let them play their game, do their thing kind of, and it cost us," Johansson said. "Even though it didn't end the way we wanted it to, we showed a lot of character and got a point."
Johansson made it 2-1 at 1:32 of the second when he scored on the power play. It was his first goal since signing with the Sabres as a free agent July 6.
Ullmark stopped Gustav Nyquist point-blank as a Blue Jackets power play expired at 10:14 of the second period, and Skinner tied it 2-2 at 11:58 with an unassisted goal.
Defenseman Ryan Murray skated the puck from behind the Columbus net, but Skinner stole it from behind and snapped a shot from the slot past Korpisalo.
"Our composure against Pittsburgh, it just blew up on us," Tortorella said. "We've been talking about that since then. Tonight, in the third period especially, going into it 2-2 after being up 2-0, was a really good test for us as far as staying within ourselves and not trying to do too much. I thought we did a good job."

After Foligno put the Blue Jackets back in front, Buffalo tied it following Jenner's penalty off a face-off in the Columbus zone.
"My hand hit the puck, so that's the rule," Jenner said. "You can't touch the puck at all with your hand, I guess. I know my hand hit the puck.
"It's definitely not the spot you want to be, but it was a great play by [Texier] there in overtime to get it done, though."

They said it

"We've just got to recharge, be a little bit sour about the loss today. It's going to be a new day tomorrow. There's nothing else to it. We have a lot of games going forward." -- Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark
"You can't play the game without your swagger, without that confidence. I stated to these guys all through camp that's a very important part of what we have to be. ... To win it this way, I think it gives you some juice." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella

Need to know

Skinner has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his past 14 games against the Blue Jackets. … Atkinson has nine points (five goals, four assists) and is plus-6 in his past seven games against the Sabres. … He has two power-play goals in three games this season after he had eight in 80 games in 2018-19. … Forward Sonny Milano made his season debut for the Blue Jackets, replacing injured forward Josh Anderson (back). Milano, who was minus-1 in 7:39, was the last player on the 23-man roster to play.

What's next

Sabres: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, MSG-B, RDS, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, FS-O, PRIME, NHL.TV)