Postgame Report | Sabres unable to complete comeback against Columbus

Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka scored third-period goals but the Buffalo Sabres couldn't rally back from a three-goal deficit against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 5-3 loss Tuesday night at KeyBank Center.
Tage Thompson added his 41st goal of the season for the Sabres, who fell behind 4-1 on Boone Jenner's goal with 18 seconds remaining in the second period. Craig Anderson made 31 saves on 35 shots.
"We didn't play very well in the first period, for sure," Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said. "Pretty disappointing, but we're in a push here. You're not going to win every game, you're going to have ups and downs still and you've got to win two out of three coming down the stretch. There were a few big wins, now we've got to put it behind us and go win some more games. That's the only thing. You're going to hit adversity and it's how you deal with it."
Eric Robinson had a hat trick for Columbus and Kent Johnson also scored. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 38 shots.
Buffalo's power play was 1-for-3 on the night, but the penalty kill went 0-for-1.

How it happened

PERIOD 1
The Sabres earned a 16-15 advantage in shots, but the Blue Jackets emerged from the period with a 2-1 lead on the strength of goals from Johnson and Robinson.
Johnson wired a shot on the power play to put Columbus on the board just 2:53 into the contest. Thompson answered 18 seconds later for Buffalo, but Robinson restored the lead with a shot from the slot set up by Sean Kuraly behind the goal line.

PERIOD 2
Kuraly and Robinson connected again 11:53 into the period to increase the Columbus lead to 3-1. Jenner deked his way to the net and lifted a shot from in tight to make it 4-1 with 18 seconds remaining.
"We scored early and then, again, we wanted to try and make things pretty perfect from that point instead of just competitive and direct," Sabres coach Don Granato said.
PERIOD 3
Quinn buried a shot from the right side on a 2-on-1 rush to cut into the Blue Jackets' lead 5:02 into the period. Peterka added a power-play goal with a one-timer from the right circle to make it 4-3 with 10:14 remaining.

The Sabres continued to push for the tying goal in front of a raucous crowd and nearly got it on multiple occasions. Peterka sent another one-timer on a power play off the far-side post. Jeff Skinner had a shot from in tight graze off the shoulder of Merzlikins.
Robinson completed his hat trick to end the comeback bid with an empty-net goal with 35 seconds remaining.

What we learned

1. Here's where things stand after Tuesday's games, which included wins by Pittsburgh (3-1 at Nashville) and Florida (4-1 at Tampa Bay), a shootout loss by the Islanders (2-1 at Minnesota), and a regulation loss by the Red Wings (6-1 at Ottawa).
| Team | GP | Points | P% | Reg. W | ROW | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | WC1 - New York Islanders | 64 | 70 | .547 | 27 | 31 | | WC2 - Pittsburgh Penguins | 60 | 69 | .575 | 24 | 29 | | Buffalo Sabres | 59 | 66 | .559 | 23 | 30 | | Florida Panthers | 62 | 66 | .532 | 26 | 28 | | Ottawa Senators | 60 | 64 | .533 | 23 | 28 | | Detroit Red Wings | 60 | 64 | .533 | 22 | 26 | | Washington Capitals | 62 | 64 | .516 | 23 | 28 |
2. Thompson and Skinner extended their point streaks to seven games. Thompson has six goals and five assists in that span; Skinner has five goals and five assists.
3. Thompson's goal was his 80th point in 59 games this season. Only three Sabres have reached the mark in fewer games in a single season: Pat LaFontaine (42 games in 1992-93 and 49 games in 1991-92), Alexander Mogilny (47 games in 1992-93), and Gilbert Perreault (56 games in 1974-75).
4. Thompson became the first Sabres player to eclipse 40 goals in a single season since Thomas Vanek scored 43 in 2006-07.

Up next

The Sabres visit the Boston Bruins on Thursday. Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops at 7 on MSG and WGR 550.