Columbus, Ohio (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres continued their winning ways on the road on Friday night, earning a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena thanks to an unlikely source.
Both sides traded goals in the opening period of play.
Columbus opened the scoring on a power play, thanks to Dmitri Voronkov's 15th goal of the season.
Four minutes later, Zemgus Girgensons threw a puck on net and it snuck in from an awkward angle to make it a 1-1 game.
After a scoreless middle stanza, the Sabres took their first lead of the night just three minutes into the third period.
Connor Clifton's first goal in the blue and gold came with help from Jacob Bryson and Zach Benson, as his point shot found its way through traffic and into the Blue Jackets net.
The Sabres then withstood a late push from the Blue Jackets, as Buffalo secured second-straight win and a fifth-straight victory away from home.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 16:16 - Zemgus Girgensons (6) (Kyle Okposo, Kale Clague)
CBJ: 12:05 - Dmitri Voronkov (15) PPG (Kirill Marchenko, Ivan Provorov)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
CBJ: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 3:05 - Connor Clifton (1) (Jacob Bryson, Zach Benson)
CBJ: NONE
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Losi & Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Connor Clifton - BUF
2.) Daniil Tarasov - CBJ
3.) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen - BUF
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What's next:
The Sabres return home to host the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday evening at KeyBank Center. Puck drop is slated is for 6 p.m. EST with pregame coverage on WGR starting at 5 p.m. EST with Brian Koziol and Paul Hamilton.