The Blue Jackets fell to 1-1 in the preseason, dropping a 4-0 final vs. Buffalo at Nationwide Arena on a rainy Monday night.
Game in a Paragraph
Columbus came out with a full head of steam and played a strong first period, only to see it end as a scoreless frame. That seemed to take the wind out of the Jackets’ sails, as Buffalo rallied to take a 2-0 lead in the second period and then doubled the advantage down the stretch to leave Columbus with a preseason victory.
CBJ Standouts
- Goaltender Jet Greaves stopped 23 of 24 shots against in just under 29 minutes of action.
Quote of the Game
Head coach Dean Evason: “We really liked the first period. We come in and just thought we didn’t get rewarded, but we did a lot of really good things. I thought in the first we corrected some stuff from the other night as far as getting pucks through a little more, generating a little bit. And then we didn’t get rewarded and it just kind of fizzled after that. We didn’t like pretty much our game except or goalies probably for the next two periods.”
How It Happened
Just like in Sunday's preseason opener, neither team got on the board in the first 20 minutes, though the Blue Jackets had a 21-8 edge in shot attempts and had two minutes more of offensive zone possession than the Sabres. They couldn’t best goalie Alexandar Georgiev, though, and the highlight of the period was a fight between CBJ wing Max McCue and former Blue Jackets forward Josh Dunne
Buffalo then took a 2-0 lead in the second period, and it could have been worse considering the Sabres had a 16-8 edge in shots on goal. Bowen Byram struck first for the Sabres 4:51 into the frame when his shot from the top of the circles got through a screen, went off Elvis Merzlikins and clattered into the net. Then at 8:25, Beck Malenstyn quickly hit the rebound of an Owen Power shot past Merzlikins to make it 2-0. The Blue Jackets switched goalies at the midway point, with Greaves coming in to stop all 10 shots he faced in the frame as Buffalo tried to increase its lead.
The CBJ netminder was deputized quite a bit in the third, as well, as Buffalo had a 15-6 shot advantage and pulled away to the win. Devon Levi entered the Sabres’ net in the third and made a big stop on a shot by Adam Fantilli near the midway point of the period. Greaves was also strong in the third, but the Blue Jackets pulled the goalie early and Jack Quinn scored with 4:59 to go. Greaves finally gave up a goal within the final minute as Konsta Helenius scored from the right circle.
Notable
Columbus was outshot 35-22 in the game, with Merzlikins stopping eight of 10 shots against. ... Georgiev had 16 saves in the Buffalo shutout and Levi posted six stops in the third period. ... Jack Williams led the Blue Jackets with seven hits. ... Isac Lundestrom won 12 of 16 faceoffs while Hunter McKown won 9 of 11.
Roster Report
Here is the roster the Blue Jackets used for the contest. The game marked the preseason debut of a number of CBJ regulars including Fantilli, Kent Johnson, Kirill Marchenko, Damon Severson, Ivan Provorov and both goaltenders.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets are right back at it Tuesday night, playing preseason game No. 3 and hitting the road for the first time when they take on the Sabres in Buffalo at 7 p.m.
