The Blue Jackets defeated the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night by a 5-3 score during a preseason matchup at Nationwide Arena in their sixth preseason game of the year.
Game in a Paragraph
The Jackets opened the scoring in the first and never trailed throughout the rest of the contest. The first period ended with a 2-1 score thanks to a pair of goals by Patrik Laine and Emil Bemstrom. By the end of the second the game was knotted at 3-3, with Johnny Gaudreau scoring for Columbus. The third period was all Jackets with a goal by Adam Fantilli and an empty netter by Kirill Marchenko to give the CBJ a 5-3 victory.
CBJ Standouts
- Laine and Bemstrom both scored their third goals of the preseason.
- Laine (1-1-2), Gaudreau (1-1-2), Marchenko (1-1-2), Provorov (0-2-2) and Severson (0-2-2) all had a multiple-point game.
- Fantilli set off the cannon for the first time, netting his first goal of the preseason.
Quick Recap
The Blue Jackets started the scoring at 6:15 into the first period thanks to a one-timer courtesy of Laine off a pass from Gaudreau. Shortly after at 9:04, Bemstrom got another puck by Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on the power play to put the Jackets up 2-0. The Sabres followed up with a goal by Zemgus Girgensons at the 11:38 mark to end the period at 2-1.
The Jackets opened the scoring during the second period just 23 seconds in, with a goal by Gaudreau from Marchenko and Laine to set the score at 3-1. At 13:53 Buffalo got one back with a backhand goal from Owen Power to make it 3-2. Zach Benson followed suit with another goal at 18:45 to end the period with the teams knotted at three.
Fantilli got his first goal in a CBJ jersey at 8:43 into the third period to give the Jackets a one-goal advantage. Marchenko scored an empty netter to solidify the Jackets lead at 18:32, closing out the game with a final score of 5-3.
Notable
The Jackets led in shots on goal (33-26), hits (9-3), and takeaways (10-3). … 13 CBJ players earned points. … Buffalo went 0 for 2 on the power play, while Columbus was 1-2. ... Columbus is now 3-0-0 at Nationwide Arena in the preseason.
Roster Report
Here is a link to the roster the Blue Jackets used for the game. Jake Bean played in his first preseason game of the year after recovering from a shoulder injury that allowed him to play in only 14 matches last season.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets return to Nationwide Arena on Thursday to host the Washington Capitals. The Jackets will then finish the preseason on Saturday in Washington. The home opener is set for Oct. 12 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
