Panarin boosts Blue Jackets past Sabres in OT

COLUMBUS -- Artemi Panarin scored his second goal of the game 31 seconds into overtime to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 5-4 victory against the Buffalo Sabres at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.

Buffalo (6-4-1) failed to win a fourth straight game, which would have matched its longest winning streak since Dec. 9-15, 2014.
Cam Atkinson scored twice within 31 seconds and had an assist for Columbus (6-4-0), which has won two straight. With the score tied 2-2 in the second period, he scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season to set the Blue Jackets record for fastest two goals by one player, breaking the mark set by Nick Foligno (51 seconds against the Calgary Flames on March 22, 2013).
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
"It's always good to get the crowd going, we feed off that," Atkinson said. "Once we got one they were kind of buzzing. It was nice to get the other one pretty quickly and keep them involved."

Panarin's overtime goal came after Pierre-Luc Dubois stole the puck from Rasmus Ristolainen along the left boards and passed to Panarin for the one-timer from the left circle.
"I saw where [Panarin] was before I got on the battle," Dubois said. "I put it in his area. He's usually there too."
Dubois had a goal and two assists, and Joonas Korpisalo made 34 saves for the Blue Jackets.
Korpisalo (4-0-0) made consecutive starts for the first time this season. It was the third time he's allowed four goals and won. The other game was a 3-2 overtime victory in the season opener at the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 4 when he allowed two goals and Panarin scored the winner.
"You look at his stats, I don't think they really reflect what he's done for us," Dubois said of Korpisalo, who has a 3.46 goals-against average and .897 save percentage. "He's kept us in games, some amazing saves. He hasn't allowed a bad goal, I think."

Jeff Skinner and Jason Pominville each had a goal and an assist, Kyle Okposo and Casey Mittelstadt scored, and Jack Eichel had two assists for the Sabres.
Linus Ullmark made 32 saves in his third start of the season for Buffalo, which trailed 4-2 in the third period.
"We'll learn from the mistakes we made but we've got to take credit where credit's due, we did a terrific job battling back on the road and getting a point," Sabres coach Phil Housley said.
Okposo made it 1-0 at 1:38 of the first period, on a pass from Tage Thompson off the rush.
Dubois tied it 1-1 at 8:37 after Panarin passed to him in the right circle. He beat Ullmark to the far side.
Skinner made it 2-1 at 14:11 of the first, and Panarin tied it 2-2 at 1:34 of the second.
Atkinson gave Columbus a 3-2 lead at 16:42 of the second, completing a give-and-go with Riley Nash. Atkinson made it 4-2 at 17:13 on the rush down the left wing.

"That second period wasn't us," Pominville said. "We were too far apart. We weren't supporting each other like we normally do and we're ahead of the play."
Pominville made it 4-3 at 2:32 of third, and Mittelstadt scored on the power play at 4:30 to tie it 4-4.

They said it

"You think about it a little bit, but it wasn't bothering me much. I've been a goal-scorer my whole career. When they come they come. It's nice to get one and build off that." -- Sabres forward Casey Mittelstadt on scoring his first goal of the season

"We've got a good group here. I really like the team. I think we're beginning to show more personality but you never know. It's a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get shift to shift at certain times." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella

Need to know

Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues did not play because he returned to Buffalo for personal reasons. Thompson replaced him. … Jake McCabe has seven points (one goal, six assists) in his past six games. … Skinner has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 24 games against Columbus, including 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his past 11. … Atkinson has scored two goals in each of the two games his 3-month-old son, Declan, has attended Nationwide Arena. The other was against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 18. … Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski has six points (one goal, five assists) in a five-game point streak.

What's next

Sabres:Host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, SNF, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-D+, NHL.TV)