Columbus Blue Jackets @ Buffalo Sabres: Post Game 1/18
By Clint Linn
The Columbus Blue Jackets came into tonight’s game, winners of five straight, and off a beat down of the Washington Capitals the night before. Looking to make it six straight wins and continue to climb the Metropolitan Division standings. The Buffalo Sabres were trying to continue to grow and become a better team, as well as win some hockey games.
First Period:
The Blue Jackets decided to get off to a horrible start, allowing a goal just a shade inside a minute into the game. Tyler Myers beat Sergei Bobrovsky, and before anybody could get settled in it was 1-0 Buffalo. I wanted to see how this team would respond, and respond well this team did, for about 28 seconds. David Savard got a pass off the end boards, threw it on net with traffic in front of Ryan Miller it got pasty him. 20 some seconds later Brandon Dubinsky turned the puck over right in front of Bobrovsky, and Drew Stafford beat Bobrovsky to give Buffalo the lead again. Blue Jackets got a power play chance when Tyler Myers was given a boarding penalty for laying out James Wisniewski. Matt Calvert back handed a rebound off the shot of Nikita Nikitin right as the PP expired, tying the game up for the second time, this time at 2. The rest of the period was not as eventful, neither team scored as the teams went into more of a defensive game plan.
CBJ 2 Buffalo 2
Second Period:
Buffalo grabbed the lead early in the second period if only for a short period of time, as the goal was reviewed and overturned, due to a distinct kicking motion on Matt Moulson. Buffalo got the first power play of the period, the Blue Jackets were up to the task however and killed off the PP. The Blue Jackets got the next power play for goalie interference, and they capitalized quickly when Brandon Dubinsky gathered a rebound and found a way to bury it with three Sabres in the crease/net. Ryan Miller kept it 3-2 with another great 2 on 1 save, this time on Ryan Johansen. The Sabres would get two more PP’s from Nathan Horton penalties, the first of which was bogus. The PK for Columbus kept the puck out of the net to help give its team a lead going into the third period.
CBJ 3 Buffalo 2
Third Period:
Ryan Johansen looked good the entire third period, and it’s great to see him taking the shape that everybody associated with the Blue Jackets thought he would take. The Blue Jackets played a great 19:24 of a period, and had some great pressure towards end of the period. David Savard took a penalty with 36.4 seconds left to go in the third period, and what do you know the Sabres made the Blue Jackets pay. Tyler Myers beat Bobrovsky with almost the same shot he beat him with in the opening minute of the game, definitely a goal Bob would like back. To get win number 6 in a row the Blue Jackets were going to have to get it in overtime or a shootout.
CBJ3 Buffalo 3
Overtime:
A lot of back and forth as many NHL overtime games can be with 4 on 4 hockey, as the Blue Jackets and Sabres traded chances. No goals were scored and the game would go to a shootout.
Shootout:
Buffalo: Matt Moulson……Bob’d.
Columbus: Cam Atkinson loses handle and puck rolls off stick, no goal.
Buffalo: Tyler Ennis……Bob’d.
Columbus: Mark Letestu rings it off the post, no goal.
Buffalo: Cody Hodgson…..Bob’d.
Columbus: Ryan Johansen dekes, dekes, and dekes some more and beats Ryan Miller to make it 6 straight for the good guys.
CBJ 4 Buffalo 3
The Columbus Blue Jackets found it a little tougher than maybe they thought win number 6 in a row would be in Buffalo, but coming into their second game of a back to back it was just nice to see the Blue Jackets show some resolve and heart to pull this win out. They now have 6 wins in a row(tying the franchise recored) and currently sit in 4th place in the Metropolitan Division, with 2 games in hand on the 3rd place New York Rangers. Even better news is they slide into the 2nd wild card spot behind the Toronto Maple Leafs. This team is finding its way, and starting to play some pretty darn good hockey. It’s going to be a fun ride throughout the winter and into spring, get ready Blue Jacket fans!
Buy ‘Em High:
- David Savard: Heck of a goal, and a timely one at that, coming after the Sabres grab an early lead.
- Matt Calvert: Back hands a rebound to tie the game up after Buffalo had taken the lead back, shortly after Savard tied it.
- Brandon Dubinsky: Scores what most fans thought was going to be the game winner, and his all around play always impresses me.
- Ryan Johansen: Coming up big when he had to in the shootout to seal the 6th straight win.
Sell ‘Em Low:
- Zip, Zilch, Nada: I can’t have any complaints, the team is looking more and more like the team we saw at the end of last year. They have won six straight and grabbed a spot in the playoffs as of the end of this game.