PREVIEW: Blue Jackets head to Buffalo after big win over Caps

BLUE JACKETS (21-22-1) at SABRES (14-24-7)

So that's what we did when looking to talk about the Blue Jackets' come-from-behind, then come-from-ahead 5-4 victory against Washington on Tuesday night to kick off the second half of the season. Columbus trailed 2-0 and 3-2, tallied to take a 4-3 lead, then watched the Caps get an extra-attacker goal but still had enough time to get the game winner in the District.
It felt like the kind of no-passengers, everyone-pulling-the-rope win that can unite a team, and Voracek felt that as well. But his biggest take-home message from the game was how the Blue Jackets played a veteran, battle-tested, physical team and held their ground no matter what Washington threw at them.
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"There's gonna be games you're gonna lose, there's gonna be games you're gonna win, but what I like yesterday is we brought a physical game," Voracek said. "Especially in the third period, and we stood our ground, which was really important when I compare it to games like in Nashville where we got beat up and we lost. That's not pretty to watch, but yesterday they came at us and we stood our ground and we fought our battles, and it showed."
At the end of the game, Columbus had a 27-17 edge in hits in what was a physical, spirited game that threated occasionally to teeter over the edge in that regard. It never quite got to that point, but it is fair to say both sides were engaged for much of the game, and the back-and-forth nature of the game was a roller-coaster yet one the Jackets seemed to be able to handle throughout the contest.
"To come back from two down, 3-2, get ahead, they tie it late, and find a way to push through in regulation, I'm just happy for them because they poured a lot into that game physically and mentally," head coach Brad Larsen said. "They were engaged in that game. You could see obviously in the third period the emotion was ramped up a bit, there was more physicality, and our guys answered the bell as a group and that's real important."
As for that physical nature, Larsen has toed the line all year of wanting his team to engage opponents without going too far to make that happen. The first-year head coach thought the Blue Jackets hit that level of aggressiveness against the Caps and hopes his team can band together and keep it going when they get back on the ice tonight.
"I thought guys stepped up," Larsen said. "They continued to play physical. They came at us hard in the third, and we stood our ground. That was a good game for us in that aspect of sticking together."

Know the Foe

It is always a cold winter in Buffalo, but it seems even colder when the Sabres are struggling. And unfortunately for those in the Nickel City, that's a reality they have gotten quite used to as the Sabres have missed the playoffs for 10 straight seasons and this will be No. 11 with the team sitting in the penultimate spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
A solid 5-1-1 start has given way to just nine wins in the last 38 games, a 9-23-6 run in which the Sabres have been outscored 143-94 (3.76-2.47 per game). Buffalo has won three of its last seven and four of its last 10 before the All-Star break, but really, after the early-season trade of Jack Eichel to Vegas for future parts, it's all about a rebuild in Western New York right now.
There are some intriguing pieces, though, including two of the pieces from the Eichel trade in veteran Alex Tuch and rookie Peyton Krebs. Tuch, 25, has tallied a point per game with a 5-8-13 mark in 13 games since joining the Sabres, while Krebs was a first-round pick in 2019 and has three goals and five points in 11 games.
Other key young pieces include 21-year-old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, an All-Star this year who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft and has a 7-21-28 line this year; Dylan Cozens, a 20-year-old rookie who has 10 goals and 11 assists this year; and 22-year-old goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has a .917 save percentage in nine games.
The team also has to be encouraged by the breakout season of 25-year-old forward Tage Thompson, a big body with skill who has put it all together this year and is leading the team in scoring with 30 points on 14 goals and 16 helpers. Jeff Skinner adds a team-best 16 goals among his 28 points, while 15-year veteran Kyle Okposo is next with an 8-16-24 line.
Dustin Tokarski will get the start in net in the team's first game since the break, and on the year, he has played in 15 games (14 starts) and is 4-6-3 with a 3.27 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.