The Buffalo Sabres hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets as they were looking for their first win versus the Blue Jackets this season. The teams’ last matchup against each other was on Oct. 17, which resulted in a 6-4 win for the Blue Jackets in Columbus. Things were different this time as Alex Tuch’s three-point night helped propel the Sabres to a 3-2 victory.
Game Recap
Off of the game’s opening faceoff, Dennis Gilbert and Mathieu Oliver were both assessed five-minute major penalties for fighting. Nothing else ensued from that, however, the Blue Jackets got off to a fast start within the first seven minutes as they applied pressure on the Sabres early. Unfortunately for them, they were not able to get a puck past James Reimer. Later on, the Sabres were the team applying pressure. They controlled the pace of play for a few minutes before Bowen Byram got the Sabres on the board at 10:07 in the first period. The last 10 minutes of the period had scoring chances, but no goals came from it.
The second period had a lot more action, as only 1:47 into the period, Kent Johnson scored on a beautiful spin-o-rama goal from the left circle. Later, the Sabres killed off a penalty, which seemed to give the team some momentum. Not long after that, Peyton Krebs had a glorious chance on a bouncing puck in front of Elvis Merzlikins but unfortunately was unable to put it past him. Eventually, the Sabres retook the lead 2-1 as at 12:17, Tuch re-directed the puck past Merzlikins on a beautiful pass from Gilbert. The Sabres then got a power play and applied pressure, but no goal came from it. Late in the period, at 18:56, Tuch got his second goal of the game on a deflection from a Rasmus Dahlin point shot to extend the Sabres lead to 3-1.
Kent Johnson made this one look easy! 🌀
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) February 5, 2025
His 16th goal of the season matches his career high! @BlueJacketsNHL | #CBJ | #NHLTonight pic.twitter.com/TSBDj0k1aJ
Going into the third period, the Blue Jackets knew they needed to make a push to try and come back and potentially win. The first 10 minutes of the period, it was all Blue Jackets as they had the Sabres scrambling in their own zone at times. Fortunately for the Sabres, they held strong and did not allow a goal in those 10 minutes. Looking to cut the lead to one, Zach Ashton-Reese was all alone in front of Reimer but was unable to get the puck past the netminder as he had two opportunities. Finally, at 13:38, Damon Severson, on a beautiful pass that found its way through two Sabres defenders, found Ivan Provorov to cut the Sabres lead to 3-2.
With 2:30 remaining in the period, the Blue Jackets pulled Merzlikins for the extra attacker as they still applied heavy pressure to the Sabres like they had most of the period. Following an icing by the Sabres, the Blue Jackets then called a timeout with 1:08 remaining looking to draw up a play that would tie the game up and send it to overtime. Unfortunately for the Blue Jackets, they were not able to tie the game up after a last-minute push. The Sabres held on for dear life in the third period but were eventually able to seal the victory.
This win for the Sabres marks the first time they have won four-straight games this season, and it’s their first four-game winning streak since the 2022-23 season.