Columbus, Ohio (WGR Sports Radio 550) - James Reimer's personal winning streak in net came to an end on Thursday night. Visiting the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Buffalo Sabres coughed up three unanswered goals in a 3-2 defeat.
JJ Peterka and the Sabres opened the scoring eight-minutes into the opening period. Peterka accepted a neutral zone pass from Ryan McLeod, went screaming down the left wing with speed and wired a wrist-shot to make it 1-0 Buffalo.
Less than three-minutes later, Rasmus Dahlin showcased his dynamic abilities. A stone-cold move at the blue line extended a possession, which eventually led to his 16th goal of the game.
Columbus trimmed Buffalo's lead in half with just eight-seconds left in the first, though. Veteran forward James van Riemsdyk snuck behind the defense, and he solved James Reimer to make it 2-1 Sabres just before the horn.
After a scoreless middle stanza for both sides, the Blue Jackets netted consecutive goals in less than three minutes' time to push their unanswered goal total to three.
First, it was forward Zach Aston-Reese who tied the score, 2-2, exactly four-minutes into the third. Then, 2:42 later, captain Boone Jenner struck on a powerplay to thrust Columbus into the lead for the first time in the affair.
Jenner's goal proved to be the eventual game-winner, as Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves hunkered down in crunch time to thwart late Sabres attacks.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 11:54 - JJ Peterka (25) (Ryan McLeod, Rasmus Dahlin); 14:39 - Rasmus Dahlin (16) (Zach Benson, Jiri Kulich)
CBJ: 19:51 - James van Riemsdyk (15) (Kent Johnson, Zach Werenski)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
CBJ: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
CBJ: 4:00 - Zach Aston-Reese (6) (Unassisted); 6:42 - Boone Jenner (7) PPG (Kirill Marchenko, Sean Monahan)
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Three Stars of the Game:
1. Jet Greaves - CBJ
2. Boone Jenner - CBJ
3. Rasmus Dahlin - BUF
What's Next:
The blue and gold head to Sunrise, Florida to visit the Panthers on Saturday, April 12. Puck drop at Amerant Bank Arena is set for 6 p.m. EST with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.