Copyright yardbarker
The Sabres made up for their first-period woes, peppering shots from all cylinders. Thompson let one go from a breakaway opportunity while Noah Ostlund discharged a shot. Dahlin also sent one to the goal, but Buffalo didn’t have bodies in front of the net to make a play with the puck. Bowen Byram hustled on defense to deliver a body check on an odd-man rush, which prevented the goal while wristing a shot from the middle of the left faceoff circle from Peyton Krebs’ feed. Timmins redeemed himself after a couple of first-period errors, winning the puck in a battle at the boards, sending it to Josh Doan, who grabbed a rebound from his own shot, and burying it the second time around to tie the game at 1-1. Ryan McLeod followed with the second goal after playing a give-and-go with Byram, who sniped a shot that hit Damon Severson on the leg to get past the goal line. The referees received backlash from the home crowd after calling a power play on an Alex Tuch penalty for going after the puck while Timmins was harassed on the defensive end. The Blue Jackets found their equalizer as Zach Werenski slung a goal from the top of the slot. A scrum at the end of the period awarded Buffalo with a power play to start the third period. Beck Malenstyn gained possession from a forecheck and pushed the puck to Josh Dunne, nabbing his first goal of the season and putting the Sabres ahead again, 3-2. Lyon stonewalled three consecutive shots from Columbus and saved a shot from Jenner from the middle of the slot. Buffalo retaliated as Thompson blasted a shot from the middle of the slot, but Greaves balked at his attempt. Wood scored the game-tying goal from Chinakhov’s saucer pass to extend the game into overtime. In overtime, Jiri Kulich rushed on a breakaway after Tuch flipped the puck into open ice, but Greaves successfully seized the shot. On their odd-man rush, Wood saw an opening on Lyon’s guard and put the puck into the top right corner of the goal to allow Columbus to escape with a 4-3 win. What’s Next? The Sabres look to bounce back after a narrow overtime loss against the Boston Bruins on the road and a return home to take on the Washington Capitals. On the other hand, the Blue Jackets will travel back to Columbus to host the Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues before heading to New York for a divisional showdown against the Islanders.
