Gameday Preview: Blue Jackets at Sabres

The Details

BLUE JACKETS at SABRES
GAME INFO
COLUMBUS: 19-35-6, 8th in Metropolitan
BUFFALO: 31-23-4, 4th in Atlantic
KEYBANK CENTER, 7:30 p.m. ET
BROADCAST INFO
TV: ESPN+/Hulu
AUDIO:
LISTEN LIVE
or listen on the

and the
CBJ app
BY THE NUMBERS
CBJ Player Statistics
Sabres Player Statistics
NHL Standings
RECENT ARTICLES
SvoNotes: Boqvist is back
Prospect Report: Stanislav Svozil
5Q: Gudbranson

What They're Saying

In a span of three games, the Blue Jackets are swinging between extremes when it comes to playing styles in the opposition.
Columbus faced the highest scoring team in the NHL on Saturday and was able to go toe-to-toe with Edmonton, outscoring the Oilers on the way to a 6-5 win. Sunday brought a matchup with one of the best defensive teams in the league, and the Blue Jackets were able to get a point in a 3-2 overtime loss at Minnesota.
Now it's back to facing a team that can fill up the net in a hurry, as Buffalo enters second in the league in scoring but 23rd in team defense. The hope will be to continue to play the solid team defense that has allowed the Blue Jackets to earn points in six of eight, and to frustrate the Sabres in the way the Blue Jackets were able to keep Minnesota off the board for long stretches of Sunday's game.
"I think we played a pretty good road game," Mathieu Olivier said after the contest in Minnesota. "Obviously they pushed hard in the third. We were under pressure there, but we ended up getting a point. We put ourselves in position to win in overtime and it just didn't happen, but overall a pretty good road game."
The Blue Jackets also had to travel and play a back-to-back over the weekend, which is perhaps one reason why Minnesota was able to come back from a 2-0 hole with a pair of third-period goals, then win in overtime, so hopefully Monday's day off will help the Jackets.
"We ran out of gas," head coach Brad Larsen said after the Minnesota contest. "You could feel it in the third."

Know The Foe: Buffalo Sabres

Head coach:Don Granato (Third season)
Season Stats:Goals per game: 3.78 (2nd) | Scoring defense: 3.48 (23rd) | PP: 25.0 percent (5th) | PK: 72.8 percent (30th)
The narrative: An 11-year playoff drought could end for the Sabres this season, as the squad enters the game currently one point out of the last wild card spot but seventh in the Eastern Conference in points percentage. The maturation of Tage Thompson into a superstar and the development of such young players as Rasmus Dahlin, Dylan Cozens and Alex Tuch has made Buffalo one of the most entertaining teams in the league.
2022-23 leaders: Thompson has ascended into one of the top offensive players in the league, as the 25-year-old has followed up last year's breakout 38-goal campaign with this year's 40-39-79 line to place third in the NHL in goals and tied for fourth in points. Tuch and Dahlin follow with 62 points, as the New York native Tuch has 28 goals and 34 assists while Dahlin, the top overall pick in the 2018 draft, has a 14-48-62 line. Jeff Skinner (25 goals), Cozens (23) and Victor Olofsson (23) are also above the 20-goal mark.
In net, the Sabres have three goalies, but Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen seems to have emerged as the No. 1 as the 23-year-old is 15-8-2 with a 3.57 GAA and .892 save percentage. Veteran Craig Anderson has started 18 games while Eric Comrie has started 15.
What's new: Both Tuch and Dahlin missed the Sabres' last game with injury, with the former expected to be out for a while and the latter more of a day-to-day nature. Those would be big absences, though, considering they are tied for second on the team in points. Buffalo is a young squad but that hasn't seemed to matter as the team has won five of six, scoring at least six goals in three of those contests. The Sabres have scored six or more goals in 14 contests, in fact, including three seven-goal games, an eight-goal performance and the nine scored against Columbus earlier this season.
Trending:Columbus has generally had success against the Sabres in recent years, posting a 10-3-2 record since 2016-17 vs. Buffalo before the Sabres drubbed the Jackets back in December that featured five goals from Thompson.
Former CBJ:None.

3 Keys to the Game

Be ready to start: Buffalo's six-goal first period in the previous game between these teams highlights just how dangerous the Sabres' offense can be right from the get go.
Stay out of the box: The Sabres' win earlier this year also included three power-play goals in the first period for the Buffalo squad. This is a power play that can score with anyone.
Between the pipes: Columbus' recent solid stretch has been buoyed by two goaltenders who have appears to have raised their level of late, which will be key against a team that can score.

3 Stats to Know

• Kirill Marchenko notched his third career multigoal game Saturday with two goals. He is the second rookie in franchise history to record at least three multigoal games in a single season, joining Serge Aubin in 2000-01.
• CBJ rookies lead all NHL teams in goals and place second in points with 37-35-72 in 60 games.
• Milestone watch: GM Jarmo Kekalainen is five games from 800 for his NHL GM career. … Patrik Laine is seven goals from 200 for his NHL career (193-172-266, 452 GP).

Who's Hot

Joonas Korpisalo has a .919 save percentage in his last 16 appearances. … Marchenko's 16 goals are the most in franchise history for a player in his first 36 NHL games. They also are tied for third-most ever for a CBJ rookie with Boone Jenner (2013-14) and Cole Sillinger (2021-22), and he is second in the league among rookie goal scorers behind only Seattle's Matty Beniers (19). … Defenseman Adam Boqvist has a 2-13-15 line in his last 19 games and has tied his career high with 14 assists this season. … Laine has 8-14-22 in the last 21 games. … Gaudreau has 10-35-45 in his last 46 games. … With Marchenko and Kent Johnson (12) both in double digits, this is the third time in CBJ history that two rookies have at least 10 goals. The previous instances were 2000-01 (Aubin and David Vyborny, each with 13) and 2016-17 (Pierre-Luc Dubois with 20 and Sonny Milano with 14). ... Johnson's 28 points (12-16-28) are the 10th-most ever for a CBJ rookie. He ranks tied for sixth in the NHL in goals and is fifth in points among rookies.

This Day in CBJ History

Feb. 28, 2001: Steve Heinze becomes the second CBJ player in the team's inaugural season to reach 20 goals, doing so by scoring in a 5-2 win against Phoenix. Marc Denis also stops Jeremy Roenick on a penalty shot, the first ever attempted against the Blue Jackets.
Feb. 28, 2004: Jaroslav Spacek scores on the power play in overtime to give the Blue Jackets a 5-4 win over Colorado in Nationwide Arena. David Vyborny ties a team record with five points (1-4-5) in the victory.
Feb. 28, 2011: The original Blue Jacket, first-ever draft pick Rostislav Klesla, is traded to Phoenix along with Dane Byers for forward Scottie Upshall and defenseman Sami Lepisto.
Feb. 28, 2019: Seth Jones scores in overtime as Columbus posts a 4-3 win against Philadelphia in Nationwide Arena. It is Jones' seventh OT winner with the Blue Jackets, setting a new team record.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Johnny Gaudreau - Boone Jenner - Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson - Jack Roslovic - Patrik Laine
Eric Robinson - Sean Kuraly - Mathieu Olivier
Liam Foudy - Cole Sillinger - Emil Bemstrom
Tim Berni - Erik Gudbranson
Nick Blankenburg - Andrew Peeke
Gavin Bayreuther - Adam Boqvist
Elvis Merzlikins
Jet Greaves
Scratches:Lane Pederson, Vladislav Gavrikov (trade-related), Joonas Korpisalo (trade-related)
Injured reserve: Jake Bean (shoulder, out four to six months after surgery in November); Jakub Voracek (upper body, out indefinitely); Zach Werenski (shoulder surgery, out for season); Justin Danforth (shoulder surgery, out for season)
Roster Report:Yegor Chinakhov and Carson Meyer were activated from injured reserve and sent to AHL Cleveland on Monday. Boqvist goes back into the lineup as Billy Sweezey was sent to Cleveland this afternoon, while Merzlikins is set to get the start in net.