PREVIEW: Blue Jackets head to Buffalo with momentum

It’s fair to say the Blue Jackets needed Tuesday night. 

Their come-from-behind, season-saving 4-3 shootout win helped immensely in the standings, as it kept Columbus within two points of Philadelphia and Ottawa for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference with four games to go. It also delivered a boost of confidence to the Blue Jackets, who were searching for something good and found it as they snapped a six-game losing streak in the Motor City. 

And the way they did it could be even more of a lift. Adam Fantilli tied the score with 16.2 seconds left to go – the third latest game-tying goal that led to a CBJ win in franchise history – and Zach Werenski delivered the shootout winner in his hometown with one skate tied behind his back. 

Werenski’s goal set off a massive celebration among CBJ players, who knew they had kept alive the dream of advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2020. 

“That was such a great team win. It was awesome,” Fantilli said. “It definitely helps the mood in the locker room. We were not where we wanted to be and the position wasn’t lost on us at all, so we knew we needed that one. It speaks to the resiliency of this group. We’re not gonna sit back and watch these points go by us.  

“We need all of them, and we’re going to try to get every single one before the season is over and put ourselves in the best position to get in the playoffs for our fans and for our city.” 

As much as the win meant, the biggest thing the Blue Jackets can take from it is what it might do for them going forward. The win over the Red Wings wasn’t the prettiest victory they’ve ever seen, but the effort and ability to overcome adversity will mean a lot as the team battles for a playoff spot down the stretch. 

“It’s huge,” Werenski said. “I think we can definitely build on it. I think our focus was strictly on tonight’s game, and I think it helped our team game. I felt like we put everything into it, our energy. Guys played extremely hard for 65 full minutes, and we’re gonna build on it. We’re going to keep going. We’re gonna fight to the end and see what happens. Just an awesome performance from a lot of guys. I felt like our whole team game, everyone was bought in.”

Scratches: Zach Aston-Reese, Luca Del Bel Belluz, Mathieu Olivier (upper body injury), Dmitri Voronkov (upper body injury), Jake Christiansen, Damon Severson (shoulder surgery, out for season) 

Injured Reserve: D Brendan Smith (knee surgery, out three to four months as of Jan. 8)      

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets dramatically changed up the lines for Tuesday’s game, and Bowness said he liked the looks of them, but also noted he might keep reporters guessing. The team was off Wednesday, so we’ll see if there are any changes at the team’s morning skate today. 

This Day in CBJ History

April 9, 2010: Steve Mason stops 45 shots through 60 minutes to earn a shutout, but Detroit earns a 1-0 victory in a shootout in Nationwide Arena. Mason becomes the first CBJ goalie to earn a shutout but take a shootout loss.  

April 9, 2013: Sergei Bobrovsky posts his fourth shutout in a month's time, stopping 30 shots in a 4-0 victory vs. San Jose at Nationwide Arena. Marián Gáborík leads the way with a goal and an assist while Matt Calvert, Ryan Johansen and James Wisniewski also score. 

April 9, 2014: Columbus clinches the second playoff berth in franchise history with a 3-1 road win over the Dallas Stars. The game was rescheduled from March 10 when Stars forward Rich Peverley suffered a cardiac event on the Dallas bench in the first period; the teams played a full 60 minutes, but Columbus started with a 1-0 lead thanks to Nathan Horton’s goal in the original contest. Horton did not skate in this game because of injury but was still credited with a goal, while Artem Anisimov and Mark Letestu tallied in the first period. 

April 9, 2016: Scott Hartnell scores on the power play 2:28 into overtime as Columbus posts a 5-4 victory vs. Chicago at Nationwide Arena. 

April 9, 2017: The Jackets defeat Toronto 3-1 in the final game of the regular season, reaching the 50-win mark for the first time in franchise history.  

April 9, 2022: Jack Roslovic completes the hat trick with the overtime winner as the Blue Jackets take a 5-4 victory at Detroit. Roslovic adds an assist for a four-point game, while Zach Werenski has a trio of assists as well.  

The Numbers Game

Zach Werenski has moved into fourth place in CBJ single-season annals with 80 points this year. With 22 goals and 58 assists – one short of tying the franchise record – he is tied for second among NHL defensemen in goals and second in points. He is just the third American-born defensemen to have consecutive 80-point seasons, joining Hall of Famers Brian Leetch and Phil Housley, and just the second active blueliner (Cale Makar) to reach 80 points in back-to-back years. He leads NHL defensemen with a CBJ-record 26 multipoint games. ... Denton Mateychuk scored his 13th goal of the season Thursday, placing him sixth all-time among CBJ defensemen in a single season. He is just the third CBJ D to reach that mark (Werenski, four times; Seth Jones, once). ... Adam Fantilli has 10 goals in the last 22 games and posted an 11-15-26 line in the last 28 contests. He has set a new career high in points with 56. ... Kirill Marchenko is second in the NHL with six shootout goals and has six points in the last five games (1-5-6). ... Charlie Coyle has 12 goals and 31 points in the past 34 games, while Mason Marchment has six points in his last four contests (1-5-6). ... Jet Greaves is 13-4-3 in his last 21 appearances with a 2.37 GAA, as well as a .920 save percentage in his last 10 games. ... Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 58 goals this season, the most in the NHL and a new franchise record. … Columbus has scored first in 47 of 78 games overall, tied for first with Washington for the most in the NHL. ... Jenner has 210 career goals, three behind Cam Atkinson for second in team history. ... Coyle (fourth, 407) and Provorov (seventh, 371) are both in the top 10 among active NHLers in consecutive games played. Provorov is set to play in his 243rd consecutive game with the Blue Jackets, which would tie Jason Chimera for sceond in franchise history. ... Miles Wood is one goal from 100 and four points from 200 in his NHL career. 

Know The Foe: Buffalo Sabres

Head coach: Lindy Ruff (Second season)    

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.42 (7th) | Scoring defense: 2.99 (12th) | PP: 20.1 percent (18th) | PK: 81.4 percent (9th)     

The narrative: When we last saw the Sabres, it was January and the team was at the start of the magical run that has led Buffalo to a battle at the top of the Atlantic Division and guaranteed a return to playoff hockey. The team’s NHL-record run of 14 straight seasons without a postseason appearance is over, and Buffalo is ready to support the Sabres in what the city hopes will be a long run this spring. It’s fair to say Buffalo will be a sentimental favorite to many given the city’s passion for hockey and how long it’s been since the Sabres battled for the Stanley Cup.  

Scoring leaders: Tage Thompson has asserted himself as one of the NHL’s top goal scorers – and won gold with Team USA at the Olympics – while posting 38 goals (tied for 12th in the league) and 41 assists for a team-high 79 points. Rasmus Dahlin has cemented himself as one of the league’s top blueliners, posting an 18-53-71 line that places him sixth among NHL defensemen in points. Upstate New York native Alex Tuch adds 31 goals among 63 points, while Ryan McLeod (13-40-53) and Jack Quinn (19-31-50) have reached the 50-point mark.  

In net: The Sabres have gotten quality goaltending from a pair of netminders, as Alex Lyon has started 34 games and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has 33. Lyon is 20-10-4 with a 2.77 GAA and .906 save percentage, while Luukkonen is 21-9-3 with a 2.56 GAA and .909 SV%.  

What's new: Buffalo started 11-14-4 this year and it looked like it might be another tough season on the eastern shore of Lake Erie, but the promotion of former CBJ general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen to GM on Dec. 15 seems to have been a spur to get things on track. The Sabres are 37-9-4 in their last 50 games, including winning streaks of 10 and eight games, though Buffalo is 3-3-2 in its last eight games once it was assured they’d be playing playoff hockey.  

Trending: The Blue Jackets have won four of the last five in the series, including the first two meetings of the year. Miles Wood notched the overtime winner Oct. 28 in the first meeting in Buffalo, while Columbus posted a 5-1 victory at home Jan. 3.  

Former CBJ: Joshua Dunne has found a home on the Buffalo fourth line at times this season, playing 33 games and posting a goal and three assists. Danforth signed with Buffalo in the offseason after four seasons in Columbus but went on injured reserve after playing four games.