Quote of the Game
Head coach John Tortorella: "I think getting the first goal helped us right away. We just kept on plugging away, and I thought we played really well defensively. Bob had to make some key saves. It's a consistent thing we've talked about, but everyone is contributing."
CBJ Notables
Quick Recap
Columbus got off to a bit of a sluggish start, falling down in the shot count 7-1 at one point, but it was nothing three goals by the end of the period couldn't fix.
Dubois got the party started off a nice setup by Zach Werenski and Seth Jones. Off a faceoff, Werenski skated the puck behind the net and passed it out to Jones at the right point, and his shot hit Dubois' skate in front and ricocheted into the net at 7:14.
Columbus made it 2-0 just before a power play expired at 13:46. After a strong shift by the second power-play unit, Dubois picked up a puck behind the net and found Bjorkstrand alone in the high slot, and he had time to settle and fire a rocket past the glove of goalie Linus Ullmark.
The captain Nick Foligno made it 3-0 with 2:13 left in the period. After a Sabres turnover, Foligno took a pass from Ryan Dzingel and went behind the net on a wraparound attempt. Ullmark committed to the post on the far side, and Foligno put the puck toward the front of the net where it hit Brandon Montour and went into the net.
There wasn't much action in the second period but Columbus did increase its lead late in the frame with a goal by Josh Anderson. The big forward started on the rush with Dubois, took a pass from the center, got into the left circle and scored through Ullmark's legs to make it 4-0 at 15:31.
Buffalo's best scoring chance of the game came late in the second as Jack Eichel took an errant shot off the backboards and had a largely open net, but Bobrovsky sprawled to his left and the shot went off his mask and caromed away.
