Preview: Jackets face Sabres in nationally televised game

GAME 9: SABRES (3-5-2) AT BLUE JACKETS (5-3-0)
NATIONWIDE ARENA, 8 P.M., WEDNESDAY
TV: NBCSN
RADIO: 97.1 FM & BLUEJACKETS.COM
The Blue Jackets' two longest home stretches are four games each, and they're already halfway through the first one. They're also 0-2-0 in those games, and need a victory against the Buffalo Sabres to avoid a losing record during the homestand.

"It's big," veteran forward Matt Calvert said Tuesday. "We've lost two in a row on our home ice, and our fans have been great for us, cheering loud for us. It's something we really prided ourselves on last year, something we worked on throughout the year, and we became a hard team to play at home. We know teams don't like hearing that cannon, so it's a goal of ours, every night we're on home ice, to get that thing booming."
It boomed four times Saturday night at Nationwide Arena, but the Los Angeles Kings countered by making the red light flash behind the Columbus net six times. The Kings' 6-4 victory spoiled an otherwise exciting night for Blue Jackets fans.
This time, Columbus will face the Sabres, who've won their past two games and are looking to sweep an all-NBCSN televised back-to-back after downing the Detroit Red Wings 1-0 on Tuesday ain Buffalo.
The Sabres' starting goalie isn't known, but Robin Lehner had a 32-save shutout against the Red Wings. Chad Johnson is the other option.
Sergei Bobrovsky has started the past two games for the Blue Jackets, who lost fourth-line center Lukas Sedlak to an ankle injury in practice Monday.
The Sabres are dealing with a spate of injuries, including five lineup regulars.
SERIES RECORD
2017-18 Season: (0-0-0). The teams play twice more this season, Nov. 20 and Jan. 11 in Buffalo.
All-time: 15-10-0; 7-4-0 at Nationwide Arena
"BY THE NUMBERS"
EYES ON: THE SABRES
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
FUN FACT
Nick Foligno's younger brother, Marcus, was part of the four-player trade that sent Pominville back to Buffalo. The younger Foligno was traded to the Wild, and has three points (two goals, one assist) in five games.
QUOTABLES
"I don't even call him a defenseman. I call him a 'rover.' That's what we're trying to turn him into, and I think that's an important position. The way the game's played, our [defenseman] have been very aggressive up the ice, all of them, [but] I think [Zach Werenski] has a whole different level of what he can do." - Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"I feel like we've been playing good, and just, we don't have any luck and no bounces. We're getting some bad bounces, so we have to just work harder and get that luck for us." - Blue Jackets defenseman Markus Nutivaara
"We're actually the same age, and I think we were drafted together too. It's [been] years ago now, and [he's] a former Ohio State Buckeye, might I add, for the fans here. So, they'll be cheering for him. It's nice to have him around, though. We've got so many young guys, like Sonny Milano, cruising around this room. It's great to have an older veteran guy who's been in pro hockey for a while." - Blue Jackets forward Matt Calvert, on forward Zac Dalpe.
"It means that we followed the gameplan. As I said from Day 1, I think we have a great gameplan. We've just got to do it. We got it deep, we flipped pucks out when we were in doubt. We didn't force plays. Look at that third period. We were just flipping it out, putting it in, kept them going back 200 feet getting it and we had numbers back home. It's hard for teams to do that." - Sabres goalie Robin Lehner, on Buffalo's defensive strategy Tuesday against the Red Wings
"We can enjoy it tonight, but we know Columbus is waiting for us. They've lost two in a row now, and they haven't played since Saturday, so I'm sure they're going to be ready to play [Wednesday] night. We've got to be ready at the start of the game." - Sabres coach Phil Housley, following Buffalo's 1-0 win Tuesday against the Red Wings
PROJECTED LINEUPS
SABRES
Evander Kane - Jack Eichel - Kyle Okposo
Sam Reinhart - Ryan O'Reilly - Jason Pominville
Jordan Nolan - Benoit Pouliot - Justin Bailey
Matt Moulson - Johan Larsson - Seth Griffith
Rasmus Ristolainen - Marco Scandella
Jake McCabe - Taylor Fedun
Viktor Antipin - Matt Tennyson
Robin Lehner
Chad Johnson
Out: Zemgus Girgensons (lower body), Nathan Beaulieu (upper body), Zach Redmond
Injured reserve: Justin Falk (undisclosed), Evan Rodrigues (hand), Zach Bogosian (lower body), Josh Gorges (lower body), Jacob Josefson (lower body)
BLUE JACKETS
Artemi Panarin - Nick Foligno - Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner - Alexander Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Pierre-Luc Dubois - Brandon Dubinsky - Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert - Zac Dalpe - Sonny Milano
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Jack Johnson - David Savard
Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Out:Scott Harrington, Markus Hannikainen
Injured reserve:Gabriel Carlsson (upper body), Lukas Sedlak (ankle)