The defensemen carried the offense for the Buffalo Sabres in a 4-0 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, in the first preseason game for both teams.
Bowen Byram scored a goal for the Sabres and Radim Mrtka, the Sabres’ first-round draft pick in June, assisted on a goal as the Sabres outshot the Blue Jackets 4-0 Monday in Columbus.
Alexandar Georgiev stopped all 16 shots he faced in the first two periods, before Devon Levi took over in goal in the third.
How it happened in Columbus
First period
The Blue Jackets outshot the Sabres 8-4 in the first period, and Georgiev kept the game scoreless with less than eight minutes left, when he stopped a long wrist shot by Guillaume Richard as he was screened by Jack Williams, who tangled with Nikita Novikov in front of the crease.
After a hooking penalty to Columbus’ Hunter McKown expired with 2:42 left in the first – and the Sabres didn’t have a shot on goal on the only power play of the period – Max McCue and Josh Dunne squared up less than 10 seconds later, with Dunne throwing at least nine punches against McCue.
Second period
Byram’s shot through traffic – including teammates Josh Dunne and Tyson Kozak, who screened Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins (eight saves) – gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 4:51 of the second period. Less than four minutes later, Beck Malenstyn capped off a sequence that started on a turnover by the Blue Jackets and gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead.
The Sabres outshot the Blue Jackets 16-9 in the second, as Jet Greaves (23 saves) replaced Merzlikins midway through the period, and Greaves made a pair of stops on Dunne inside the final minute of the second to keep a two-goal margin between the teams.
Third period
Levi (six saves) didn’t make his first save until nearly nine minutes in, when he stopped Columbus center Isac Lundestrom’s backhand shot from the right circle.
The Sabres put three shots on goal on their second power play, as Columbus was penalized for too many men on the ice, and the Sabres utilized Mrtka and Michael Kesselring as part of the man-advantage unit. Jack Quinn scored an empty net goal with 4:59 left, after the Blue Jackets pulled Greaves for a sixth skater, and Konsta Helenius added the fourth goal in the final minute. Helenius also led the Sabres with seven hits.
What’s next
The Sabres host the Blue Jackets at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a preseason game at KeyBank Center.
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Rachel Lenzi
News sports reporter
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