The Blue Jackets kicked off the preseason slate Monday evening in Buffalo with a 6-1 loss to the Sabres at KeyBank Center.
Game in a Paragraph
Buffalo fielded a much more NHL-ready lineup than the Jackets and showed it as the game went on, as the Sabres scored once in the first, twice in the second and three times in the third to pull away. Thirteen Sabres players finished with at least a point, while five had two-point efforts.
Quote of the Game
CBJ head coach Dean Evason: "They obviously had a very strong lineup. I thought there were spurts in that game that we were real good. We limit them to not a lot of chances early. Obviously it got away from us in the third period, but we competed hard. ... We got a lot of positive signs. Obviously the score isn't what we were looking for, but the experience is."
CBJ Standouts
- Mathieu Olivier scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets in the first period and finished with three shots on goal.
- Mikael Pyyhtia and Trey Fix-Wolansky tied for the team lead with four shots on goal apiece.
How It Happened
The Sabres started the game on the front foot and, aided by a couple of CBJ penalties, took a 1-0 lead 5:35 into the contest with a 5-on-3 power-play goal. JJ Peterka’s centering pass got through some bodies at the front of the net and leaked to the back door, where Owen Power was free to collect and shoot past Jet Greaves. Columbus found its footing, though, outshooting the Sabres 13-4 in the frame, and tying the score at 11:34 as Olivier took the puck behind the net, collected it after goalie Devon Levi couldn’t cover and then banked it into the net off Power in front.
Buffalo put together a much better second period, though, and took a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes on goals by Zach Benson and Peyton Krebs. Benson got the scoring started 5:15 into the frame as Henri Jokiharju shot the puck from the right point, and it got knocked down in front for Benson to spin and fire past Greaves before the goalie could get reset. Krebs then doubled the advantage at 10:40 as the Jackets were caught on a line change, and he came into the zone one-on-one with Greaves and beat the goalie past the glove.
Things got away from the Blue Jackets in the third, though, as the Sabres got a trio of goals past substitute goalie Evan Gardner in the first seven minutes. Dylan Cozens started the onslaught at 2:34 when he scored off a pass from Benson, Mattias Samuelsson snuck a shot short side from the right wall past Garnder at 5:23 and Nicolas Aube-Kubel finished a nice passing play alone in front at 7:00 to complete the scoring.
Notable
Greaves finished with 12 saves on 15 shots against, while Gardner – a second-round pick in this summer’s draft seeing his first pro action – had 11 on 14 shots. ... Buffalo finished with a 29-26 edge in shots on goal. ... Columbus was 0-2 on the power play while the Sabres scored one time in four tries. ... Jordan Harris led the Blue Jackets in time on ice, as the defenseman skated 23:17. ... Krebs and Benson each had a goal and an assist while Peterka, Jack Quinn and Bowen Byram had two helpers apiece for Buffalo.
Roster Report
Here is the roster the Blue Jackets used for the opening preseason contest. The game marked the first for CBJ center Adam Fantilli since he suffered a season-ending injury last January, plus the return of Jack Johnson to the Jackets’ fold.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets return to Columbus for practice Tuesday and then will host their first home preseason game of the year Wednesday, welcoming St. Louis to Nationwide Arena at 7 p.m.
