Columbus Blue Jackets VS Buffalo Sabres: Post-Game Recap And Reaction
The Columbus Blue Jackets traveled to Buffalo, New York to battle the Buffalo Sabres last night. Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller attempted to hold their own, but the Jackets fought hard for a win. The Sabres had lost all of their games so far and were looking for their first win of the season.
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This game started off fast, with a Blue Jackets goal from Cam Atkinson and a double feature fight between Jared Boll/Patrick Kaleta and Dalton Prout/Cody McCormick. Christian Ehrhoff had an early breakaway that was stopped by a big save from Sergei Bobrovsky. At 11:10 in the first period, Thomas Vanek scores with assists from Steve Ott and Cody Hodgson.
Later in the period, Ryan Johansen plowed into Ryan Miller, and after a pile of players in the crease dusted off, it was declared a no goal. Ryan Johansen has stepped up and started blocking shots. With a great shift from RJ Umberger, Nick Foligno, and Ryan Johansen, Nick scores! Not a minute later, Cam Atkinson scores. The period ended with the Blue Jackets at 3 and the Buffalo Sabres at 1.
The second period started and after a few Sabres shots, Brandon Dubinsky scores! A shot by Vanek is saved by Sergei Bobrovsky in a typical “Bob” way. We finally see the same Bob we saw last year from the Vezina Trophy winner. Ryan Johansen shot with a great save by Ryan Miller, which was reviewed by the war room in Toronto and confirmed as a no goal. After a penalty hit from Mike Weber, Nick Foligno throws some punches and the Blue Jackets begin their first power play of the game.
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Just after the power play ends, another there is another penalty by Myers and Bobrovsky leaves the ice for the extra attacker. During the second power play, Gaborik shoots but Miller’s arm is in the way. Kaleta came out of the locker room with a full face mask on after a fight in the first period with Boll. Marcus Foligno gets 4 minutes in the penalty box for interference and unsportsman like conduct with a slew foot. At the end of the second period, the Blue Jackets are up 4-1.
Nothing exciting happened until 15 minutes left in the game. Bobrovsky made a huge save, Gaborik took the rebound down to Miller, who also made a huge save. It took until 9:20 left for something else exciting to happen. A turnover led to a breakaway for Vanek that was saved by Bobrovsky. The Sabres got their first powerplay from a holding call on Blake Comeau. During the power play, Sabres fans booed their own players. The third period was not all that exciting, as the Blue Jackets were running out the clock and not taking many chances.
This game started fast and ended slow. I nearly fell asleep during the last 5 minutes. However, this is the type of game the fans are looking for. Huge saves by Bobrovsky and multiple goals scored by the Blue Jackets makes for an exciting show. Let’s hope the same Blue Jackets team shows up for the game against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.