Mittelstadt tied the game 2-2 at 11:52 of the third period with a shot from the right circle.
"I kind of looked up and maybe I'd try to pass that there, but [Jordan Greenway] looked pretty covered," Mittelstadt said. "When you see the big fella going to the net, though, you've got to get it there. Definitely just trying to a get a puck to the net and when it goes in, it's a bonus."
Severson gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 19:47 of the first period. Luukkonen made the save on Severson's initial shot from the right circle, but the rebound hit the skate of Dmitri Voronkov and bounced back to Severson, who scored from the slot.
Quinn scored 40 seconds into the second period on a loose puck at the front of the net to tie it 1-1. He has three goals in five games since returning on Dec. 19 from an offseason Achilles injury.
"Put a lot of work in the rehab," Quinn said. "Obviously, I have full confidence in the Achilles now, and just trusting my game out there."
Fantilli gave the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead at 13:45 of the second when he one-timed a spinning pass from Justin Danforth from the right circle into the far side of the net.
Buffalo outshot the Columbus 29-13 after the first period.
"I thought in the third we were under fire," Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. "We could see our legs going down midway through the second. You could see it was more of a struggle, the battles. And then when the body is tired, the brain makes not as good decisions. But getting a point tonight in the back-to-back like we did, very emotional game last night, I think we are finishing the [year] on a good note."
The Sabres were without coach Don Granato because of an illness. Seth Appert, who is the coach of Buffalo's American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester, filled in behind the bench.
"It's easy sometimes during adversity, when you're playing good and getting chances but you're down, to get frustrated," Appert said. "That's natural. But I really liked the way we were playing. We had a great first. It was unfortunate we gave up one late. We had an outstanding second. It was unfortunate we came out of it down by one. My message going into the third was, 'Don't get bored playing the right way,' because what we were doing as a group was working. We were grinding and we were wearing them down. I thought that if we stayed with it that we were going to get the results. Obviously, credit to the guys. They did."
NOTES: Fantilli, 19, extended his point streak to four games (two goals, two assists). He joins Rick Nash (four times), Zach Werenski, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Nikolay Zherdev (twice each) as the only teenagers with a point streak of at least four games in Blue Jackets history. … Skinner scored his fifth overtime goal with Buffalo, fourth-most in team history behind Jack Eichel (eight), Derek Roy (six) and Thomas Vanek (six). … Appert will coach Buffalo again on Sunday, when they visit the Ottawa Senators. He said after the game that Granato is feeling better but is not yet well enough to return.
