Columbus, Ohio (WGR Sports Radio 550/WBEN) - The Buffalo Sabres' 10-game winning streak came to a halt on Saturday afternoon. The Columbus Blue Jackets hung five goals on the blue and gold at Nationwide Arena.
Things got off an inauspicious start for the blue and gold, as the team allowed three first-period goals while only scoring one.
Columbus' goal-scorers in the first were defenseman Denton Mateychuk, forward Brendan Gaunce, and forward Dmitri Voronkov.
Gaunce's was an early backbreaker in particular, as it was a short-handed marker. With the game tied 1-1 at the time, Tage Thompson lost an edge at the blue-line and allowed Gaunce to skate in alone on Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for a five-hole goal on the breakaway.
As mentioned, at one point it was a 1-1 contest. A pair of Josh's teamed up to do the damage for the blue and gold, as Norris' slick pass to Doan was the lone Sabres' goal of the opening 20-minutes.
In the second the Sabres dialed up the pressure on the Blue Jackets, but the only goal of the stanza belonged to Columbus. About eight-minutes in, forward Mathieu Olivier was able to tip-toe through a trio of defenders before he beat Luukkonen with a backhand. 4-1 Blue Jackets it became.
It was much the same song as the game rolled into the third period. Columbus continued to envelope chances, and any fire the defense wasn't able to put out, goalie Jet Greaves stood tall time and time again.
Running out of time, Luukkonen was waved to the bench with about nine-minutes to play in regulation as the Sabres still trailed by three. Less than a minute later, forward Cole Sillinger made it a 5-1 contest with one of the earliest empty-net tallies (8:14 to play).
The loss put an end to the Sabres' 10-game winning streak; tied with three other occurrences for longest in franchise history.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 11:56 - Josh Doan (12) (Josh Norris, Owen Power)
CBJ: 3:00 - Denton Mateychuk (8) (Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski); 14:04 - Brendan Gaunce (2) SHG (Unassisted); 17:12 - Dmitri Voronkov (14) (Ivan Provorov, Damon Severson)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
CBJ: 8:04 - Mathieu Olivier (4) (Zach Aston-Reese, Damon Severson)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
CBJ: 11:46 - Cole Sillinger (5) ENG (Denton Mateychuk, Zach Werenski)
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Blue Star Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
1. Jet Greaves - CBJ
2. Denton Mateychuk - CBJ
3. Brendan Gaunce - CBJ
What's Next:
The blue and gold look to start a new win-streak, at home, against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, January 6. Puck drop at KeyBank Center is set for 7 p.m. EST with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.