At the Horn | Blue Jackets 3 - Sabres 2

The Buffalo Sabres saw their five-game winning streak snapped Thursday at Nationwide Arena, where they fell 3-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Buffalo led 2-1 through two periods, but two Columbus goals in a 2:42 span in the third period flipped the game in the Blue Jackets’ favor.

Sabres goaltender James Reimer’s personal seven-game winning streak ended, too, as he stopped 27 of 30 shots.

Rasmus Dahlin assisted on JJ Peterka’s opening goal before scoring one of his own, staking Buffalo to a 2-0 lead in the first period. The Sabres finished with 41 shots, tied for their second most in a game this season, but couldn’t find a third goal.

The Blue Jackets came back with goals from James van Riemsdyk, Zach Aston-Reese and Boone Jenner, while goalie Jet Greaves, recalled from Cleveland (AHL) on Thursday, made 39 saves.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Period

Peterka’s snipe opened the scoring 11:54 into the game. Ryan McLeod’s short-range pass in the neutral zone sent Peterka speeding into the Columbus end, where he lifted a rocket over Greaves’ glove side for his 25th goal of the season – three shy of Peterka’s career high.

Dahlin doubled the lead less than three minutes later. The captain initially got the play down low with a blue-line deke of Sean Monahan. He then reeled in a loose puck, dragged it into a shooting lane and netted a wrister for his 16th goal.

With eight seconds remaining in the period, van Riemsdyk escaped on a breakaway and beat Reimer to halve the Sabres’ lead. It was the only blemish in an otherwise strong period for the Buffalo netminder, who made 11 saves.

Second Period

Bowen Byram made a sliding block to break up a 2-on-1 rush by Columbus late in the period.

And with 1:30 remaining, Peterka dashed in on a breakaway but Greaves made a blocker save. Buffalo outshot Columbus 18-7 in the scoreless middle frame.

Third Period

Aston-Reese beat Reimer glove-side with a shot from high in the zone, tying the game 2-2 with 16 minutes to play.

The game’s first penalty, a Sam Lafferty slashing call, followed shortly after and sent Columbus to the man advantage. In the back half of the power play, 2:42 after the tying tally, Jenner drove the crease and whacked in a loose puck to give the Blue Jackets their first lead of the night.

Denton Mateychuk tossed a puck over the glass at 12:37, giving the Sabres their first power play. They got three shots on goal but couldn’t get one past Greaves.

Reimer went to the bench with 1:52 on the clock, but the Sabres couldn’t cash in on their heavy 6-on-5 pressure.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

POSTGAME SOUND

UP NEXT

The Sabres head to Florida for a weekend back-to-back, which begins Saturday night at the Panthers. Coverage on MSG begins at 5:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 6.