After a pair of disappointing losses out of the team's 10-day break, the Buffalo Sabres rebounded on Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at KeyBank Center.
It was Sabres captain Jack Eichel who came up in the clutch for Buffalo with the game-winning goal just 36 seconds into overtime as he held on to the puck for quite some time before finding some open space in the Columbus end and firing home his 31st goal of the season over the blocker of goalie Matiss Kivlenieks.
Just past the seven-minute mark of the opening period, Buffalo got the first prime scoring chance of the day when Eichel and linemate Jimmy Vesey went in on a 2-on-1 rush to the Columbus net. Eichel made a nice pass across the Blue Jackets' goal crease, but Vesey didn't get enough of the puck and his shot attempt went wide of Kivlenieks.
The Sabres started the second period with more energy than the Blue Jackets, who were coming off their nine-day break for the NHL All-Star Game, as well as their bye week. Buffalo ended up out-shooting Columbus 8-3 in the opening eight minutes of the middle stanza. However, the Blue Jackets managed to fight back and get some pressure in the Buffalo end throughout the period.
With three minutes left to go in the period, the Blue Jackets thought they had scored to tie the game at 1-1 when forward Alex Wennberg was able to slide a puck into a wide-open Buffalo net. However, the officials reviewed the play and determined that Wennberg had kicked the puck into the net and the goal was disallowed.
The shot totals from the first period ended up doubling for both the Sabres (11) and Blue Jackets (10) in the second, but neither team was able to find the back of the net.
Columbus was given an early chance in the third period to tie the game at 1-1 when Johan Larsson was penalized for holding in the Buffalo end. Pierre-Luc Dubois had the Blue Jackets' best chance early in the man advantage, but his shot went off the goal post and ended up trickling just wide of the net.
Although the Blue Jackets failed to score on the man advantage, they eventually tied the game a little more than a minute later. This time, the goal counted as Blue Jackets forward Oliver Bjorkstrand blasted a shot over the shoulder of Hutton after linemate Gustav Nyquist made a nice play to evade a check from Jake McCabe along the boards.
With less than seven minutes remaining in the third period, Eichel got his first prime scoring chance of the game as he found some open ice and got a nice feed from Vesey just outside the Blue Jackets' blue line. The Sabres captain had plenty of room to shoot, but he shot a rolling puck just wide to the left of the Columbus net.
The period saw the Blue Jackets outshooting the Sabres by an 8-7 total, but the score remained tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation.
As for Kivlenieks, he performed well for the Blue Jackets, but he comes up short in the loss with 22 saves on 24 shots faced.
The loss for Columbus also ends their six-game winning streak.
Strategic Financial Solutions Stats of the Game:
The Sabres will continue their five-game homestand on Tuesday with a matchup against the Colorado Avalanche at KeyBank Center. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. on WGR with the Paul William Beltz Pregame Show starting at 6 p.m. with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog from (716) Food and Sport.