BLUE JACKETS (44-30-4) at SABRES (31-37-10) 6 p.m. ET; TVAS, MSG-B, FS-O, NHL.TV
Columbus holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They're tied in points with the Montreal Canadiens, with a game in hand, and trail the Carolina Hurricanes, who hold the first wild card, by one point. The Blue Jackets have outscored opponents 20-4 in a four-game winning streak. The Sabres, who have lost six in a row, are 1-11-2 in their past 14 games and 3-16-3 in their past 22.
Players to watch
Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a four-game point streak. Sabres center Jack Eichel has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 11 games against the Blue Jackets.
They said it
"We're scoring some goals here, we're playing looser offensively. The monkey's off the back … and we want to keep this good thing going. Everyone's chipping in, which is great, so we want to continue." -- Blue Jackets center Matt Duchene on the four-game winning streak "I don't think we've quit. At this point, it's definitely tough. It's a struggle. It's been a long year, you can say that. Quit? No. We're going to play [Sunday]. We should be mad about this and bring our best effort." -- Sabres captain Jack Eichel
Bjorkstrand has five goals in a four-game goal-scoring streak. … Atkinson, with 41 goals, needs one to set a single-season Blue Jackets record. … Jenner's next assist will be his 200th in the NHL. … Skinner has one goal in his past 21 games and is two assists away from 200 in the NHL. … Okposo is one assist shy of 300.
