Josh Norris scored as the Buffalo Sabres played the Columbus Blue Jackets in a home performance. The decisive third-period sequences capitalized on defensive lapses that left visiting coach Rick Bowness shaking his head.
Rasmus Dahlin broke open a tight game at 4:30 of the second period, pushing Buffalo ahead 3-1. He fired a one-timer from the right point off a blue-line feed from Peyton Krebs, sending the puck bar down over Jet Greaves on the glove side.
“I thought in the second period we started out great,” Columbus coach Rick Bowness told NHL.com. “We had a lot of great looks, we didn’t score, and then they get that third goal, and I don’t like how we responded after that. These guys were as disappointed as we are in that performance tonight, and they’ve taken great pride in turning this thing around. It’s team commitment to team defense, and we had too many lapses tonight.”
The Sabres quickly capitalized on those defensive breakdowns to put the game out of reach. Norris increased the lead to 4-1 at 9:46 when Zach Benson found him uncovered in front of the net, allowing the forward to slip a backhand past Greaves’ left skate. Just over a minute later, Noah Ostlund lifted the puck through his own legs and Sean Monahan’s legs for a shot that deflected off Josh Doan’s leg in the crease and crossed the line for a 5-1 advantage.
#Sabres 3, Blue Jackets 1 (4:30, 2P): and right after UPL's pokecheck, Rasmus Dahlin beats Jet Greaves on a one-timer from the right point, off a feed from Peyton Krebs.
Columbus challenged the play for goaltender interference, but a video review confirmed the goal stood.
“I think playing with confidence a little bit at home and try not to be too cute at home was an emphasis,” Doan said, according to NHL.com. “I think we did a good job getting pucks to the net early and a lot of bodies around the net.”
Zach Werenski provided the final math for the Blue Jackets at 18:21 of the third period, scoring a power-play goal from above the slot. The tally cut the deficit to 5-2, following up on Werenski’s first goal of the season the previous night in a 2-1 shootout win against the Dallas Stars.
The victory came with physical costs for the visitors. Monahan left the game late in the second period with a lower-body injury, while forward Dmitri Voronkov exited in the third period with an upper-body injury. Bowness noted after the game that both players were undergoing evaluation.
Statistical milestones punctuated the night on both benches. With his second-period goal, Dahlin recorded his 444th career point, passing John Klingberg for the eighth-most points by a Swedish defenseman in NHL history. Benson extended his point streak to a career-high six games, recording two goals and seven assists over that span. Meanwhile, Werenski joined Gustav Nyquist as the only players in Blue Jackets history to post a season-opening road point streak of at least six games. Conor Timmins also returned to the ice, logging an assist and one shot on goal in 15:18 of ice time during his season debut after recovering from a lower-body injury sustained in the preseason.
