Blue Jackets at Sabres | Recap

BUFFALO -- Alex Tuch had two goals and an assist for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

Bowen Byram had a goal and an assist, and Jason Zucker had two assists for the Sabres (22-26-5), who won their fourth straight game.

“I think it’s just a commitment to details,” Tuch said. “It’s being sure of ourselves. I think early in the year, we weren’t sure of ourselves. We were second-guessing plays and not sure. Once teams start getting a few come-from-behind wins on you, that’s when the doubt starts creeping in your mind. Being able to do this a couple of nights in a row here, I think it’s really big for our team here.”

CBJ@BUF: Tuch tips in his second goal of the game

James Reimer made 28 saves in place of scheduled starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who missed the game with an undisclosed injury. Luukkonen is slated to represent Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20.

“Don’t expect anything too long, like really day to day,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said of Luukkonen’s status. “I’m hopeful.”

Ivan Provorov had a goal and an assist, and Elvis Merzlikins made 18 saves for the Blue Jackets (26-21-7), who have lost two straight.

“We liked our third period a lot,” Columbus coach Dean Evason said. “We made a couple of uncharacteristic plays for us as of late and brought some pucks back in the neutral zone and fed into their forecheck and consequently gave up a couple of goals. But we played hard, despite a couple of situations like that. We pushed, we played hard, gave ourselves an opportunity and just come up a little short.”

The Blue Jackets played without their top defense pair of Zach Werenski and Dante Fabbro, each with an upper-body injury, as well as their leading goal-scorer, forward Kirill Marchenko, who is out indefinitely with a broken jaw.

“I think throughout the year, I think no matter what happens with this team, I think we go out there and try to do our best,” Provorov said. “We go out there to battle, play for each other. And today is the same thing. Obviously, don't want to see the guys get hurt. But when somebody gets hurt, it's just another man up.

“Everybody's got to step up and do the job. I think today we kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit in the second period, and it kind of cost us the game a little.”

CBJ@BUF: Byram fires it home for opening goal

Byram gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 10:07 of the first period. After Zucker’s shot was blocked, Byram got to the loose puck in the high slot and scored under Merzlikins’ right arm with a snap shot.

Kent Johnson tied it 1-1 at 1:47 of the second period. He stopped in the left face-off circle, spun around Byram and, with his back to the net, lifted a backhand into the far top corner.

“I thought [Byram] matched my speed pretty good,” Johnson said. “I was thinking I'd drive the net, but I thought he was probably going to get me closed off. So [I] just know that I can spin there and it's really tough for the D-man, and luckily I kind of had the perfect shot there.”

CBJ@BUF: Johnson flips in a laser backhand to even the score

Tuch put the Sabres in front 2-1 at 12:17 when he redirected Dennis Gilbert’s slap pass in the slot.

“I saw ‘Tuchy’ coming through. … So I pump-faked, the guy kind of froze,” Gilbert said. “If he came at me, I was just going to try to release it so we didn’t have any trouble. But [I] had some time, and just waiting for the big fella to swing through the middle and got lucky.”

Tuch then pushed it to 3-1 at 18:56, scoring from below the right hash marks with a redirection of Rasmus Dahlin’s shot from the right point.

Provorov pulled Columbus within 3-2 at 12:38 of the third period when he redirected Damon Severson’s cross-ice pass off his skate at the left post.

NOTES: Johnson has nine points (four goals, five assists) during an eight-game point streak. … With his assist, Dahlin reached 40 points for the sixth time in his career, the second most by a defenseman in Sabres history, after Phil Housley (eight times). … Dahlin assisted on the game-winning goal for the 41st time in his career, passing Jack Eichel for 10th in Buffalo history. … It’s the first time the Sabres have won four straight since a five-game winning streak from Jan. 19-26, 2023. … Buffalo forward Beck Malenstyn left the game in the second period with back spasms. There was no update. … Sabres forward Tage Thompson (undisclosed) and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson (lower body) did not play. Thompson is day to day; Samuelsson was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with no timetable for his return. … Felix Sandstrom backed up Reimer after being recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League.