Blue Jackets rally past Sabres in overtime

BUFFALO -- Miles Wood scored his second goal of the game 2:53 into overtime after tying it late in the third period, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

Wood, who returned after missing five games with an eye injury, scored from the side of the net off a pass from Zach Werenski to win it. He tied it 3-3 at 13:55 of the third when he deflected Yegor Chinakhov’s shot from above the left circle into the far side.

“Yeah, it was a great team win for us,” Wood said. “We played as a team tonight and it certainly showed. Just happy to be back with the team.”

Chinakhov and Werenski each had a goal and an assist, and Jet Greaves made 35 saves for the Blue Jackets (5-4-0), who have won four of their past five games.

“We did some really good things, obviously, early,” Columbus coach Dean Evason said. “We’ve talked about this, staying in hockey games. Did we play consistent for 60 minutes, no, but we hung around. When they pushed, we were able to just hold. So, yeah, we feel good obviously about getting two points, but there’s stuff that we can correct, there’s no question about that.”

Josh Doan and Ryan McLeod scored, and Josh Dunne scored his first NHL goal and for the Sabres (4-4-2), who have lost two in a row in overtime after winning four of five. Alex Tuch had two assists, and Alex Lyon made 35 saves.

“Maybe last year that would be a game we let a point slip away,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. There was a lot I liked about how we were playing in that third period. I mean, probably the goal we would’ve gave up last year would’ve been an odd-numbered rush, a 2-on-1 or something like that. … I think that part of the game has really changed, the high odd-man percentage rushes are missing and we’re becoming a team that knows how to still try to win but don’t make the egregious mistakes to lose.”

Chinakhov gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 6:09 of the first period. Owen Power’s backhand attempt to clear in the corner hit Conor Timmins and bounced into the left circle, where Chinakhov collected it and took it to the net, sliding it past Lyon’s left skate.

Doan tied it 1-1 at 11:39 of the second period. He received a pass from Tuch at the front of the net and pushed his own rebound through Greaves’ pads.

McLeod gave the Sabres a 2-1 lead at 14:12 when he banked a wrist shot from the left wall off the shin of Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson and under Greaves’ left arm.

Werenski tied it 2-2 at 19:44 on the power play after his slap shot from the blue line through traffic beat a screened Lyon.

Dunne put the Sabres back ahead 3-2 at 2:40 of the third with his first goal in his 20th career game, poking a loose puck in the crease past the glove of a scrambling Greaves.

“Honestly it was great work by my linemates,” said Dunne, who began his NHL career with and played four seasons in the Columbus organization, including 14 games with the Blue Jackets. “They’ve been awesome for me since I’ve been with them. They were working hard, won their battles, got the puck to the point and then I got to the net and the puck was just laying there. Right place, right time and it was a good bounce for sure.”

Buffalo is 4-1-2 in its past seven games after starting the season 0-3.

“I think we gave everyone a little bit of a heart attack out of the gates this year, which was hard on us and on everybody,” Doan said. “But I think, yeah, we’re starting to trend in that right direction. I think we got to learn how to defend leads at the end of games because that’s a position that we as a group expect to be in late throughout the year. I think as a group, last seven is obviously positive, and hopefully we can go find a way to get a win on the road.”

NOTES: Wood is the second player in Columbus history (David Vyborny on March 7, 2007, and Jan. 14, 2006) to score the game-tying goal in the third period and overtime winner in the same game. … Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson was a late scratch after feeling soreness in his hip during warmup. Jake Christiansen replaced him in the lineup. Evason did not have an update postgame. … Sabres defenseman Michael Kesselring had three shots on goal in 17:58 in his Sabres debut after being sidelined with an undisclosed injury. He was acquired by Buffalo, along with Doan, in a trade with the Utah Mammoth for JJ Peterka on June 26. … Mattias Samuelsson assisted on Dunne’s goal to extend his point streak to a career-high four games (three goals, two assists).