Benson scores 3rd preseason goal in loss to Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS – Zach Benson continued his productive preseason by scoring the game-tying goal, but the Sabres were unable to make up for a slow start in a 5-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets inside Nationwide Arena on Wednesday.

The Sabres fell behind 3-1 less than a minute into the second period. Benson, whose goal upped his point total to five (3+2) in five preseason games, emerged from the penalty box and buried a cross-ice feed from Mattias Samuelsson to tie the score at 3-3 with 1:15 remaining before intermission.

Adam Fantilli scored on a one-timer from the point to put the Blue Jackets back in front 8:43 into the third period and Kirill Marchenko added an empty-net goal in the final minutes. Patrik Laine, Emil Bemstrom, and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for Columbus.

Zemgus Girgensons and Owen Power added goals for the Sabres while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves.

Sabres coach Don Granato pointed to the first period, which saw the Blue Jackets earn a 12-5 shot advantage, as a learning opportunity for the team as it enters the final stage of training camp.

“You can say preseason, you can say this, that, or the other – we need to be better, and we know that,” Granato said. “That was below a standard that we want. We’re going to have to learn from it.

“… We wanted to play a skill game before the foundation of work, and we needed to come out and play a work game. And we fell behind as a result and played with a little frustration, compounded it a little bit. But the bottom line is if we want to have skill come out, the base of that has to be work ethic.”

The Sabres iced lineups featuring a mix of NHL veterans, prospects, and players on AHL contracts through their first four preseason games. Wednesday marked a new phase of camp with a roster more resembling the group that will take the ice opening night, albeit without forwards Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner, and Dylan Cozens.

The Sabres have one preseason game remaining, at home against Pittsburgh on Friday.

“Tonight was an easy one to have a meeting tomorrow and look at things and talk about it to find the resolve,” Granato said. “Now it’s time to get ready and it’s time for the coaches to turn it to, ‘This is what we need to focus on to get ready.’ There was plenty in that game that we can extract and pull and target as we have one more and we prepare for opening night.”

How it happened

PERIOD 1

Less than a minute in, Benson ripped a shot off the crossbar after picking up a loose puck in the Columbus end with speed.

The Blue Jackets struck first as Gaudreau handled the puck behind the net and passed it to Laine in the low slot to beat Luukkonen 6:15 in.

Bemstrom added to the lead at the 9:04 mark, putting away his own rebound in front of the net for a power-play goal.

With 8:22 remaining in the period, Girgensons received a pass from Ryan Johnson in the right circle and sniped a shot top shelf over the left shoulder of Elvis Merzlinkins to put the Sabres on the board.

PERIOD 2

Columbus wasted no time after the intermission, connecting on a series of quick passes that resulted in a tip in by Gaudreau 23 seconds in to put the Blue Jackets up 3-1.

The Sabres had an answer as Power tallied on a backhand shot to cut the deficit to one with 6:07 to go in the second.

Coming out of the penalty box on a 2-on-1, Benson slid a pass over to Lukas Rousek, who had the puck bounce off his stick. Samuelsson pinched in to keep the play alive and found Benson in the right circle for his third goal and fifth point of the preseason.

PERIOD 3

Fantilli took a shot through traffic to give the Blue Jackets a 4-3 lead at the 8:43 mark.

As the Sabres pulled the goalie, Marchenko secured the win for Columbus with an empty-net tally with 1:28 remaining.

What we learned

1. The Sabres’ three returning goalies – Luukkonen, Eric Comrie, and Devon Levi – have each made a pair of starts through six preseason games. Granato spoke prior to the game Wednesday about his comfort level entering the season with all three on the roster, crediting their growth mindsets.

“With these three in particular, a lot less [challenging] than you would think just looking at where they’re at in their careers,” Granato said. “They’re hungry, they’re young, they haven’t played a lot of games in the NHL. They’re each and every day working to get better and they know they can get better."

2. Luukkonen continued to embrace the internal competition when asked about it postgame.

“Of course, it brings some pressure, but in the end, I’ve said it many times, it’s the NHL. Everybody wants to play there,” he said. “There’s going to be competition every night. It doesn’t matter if you have two goalies or four goalies in your lineup, you have to fight for your spot, especially a guy like me who is maybe on the younger side of his career.”

3. The Sabres previously fell behind 3-0 against the Blue Jackets at home on Saturday. They came back to win that game, with Benson scoring the winning goal in the third period.

Benson was asked what he’s noticed about the team during the two deficits they erased over the past week.

“I think just how calm our bench is,” he said. “Donny keeps us pretty calm and it’s all positive. So, when you’re down 3-0, 3-1, we’re pretty confident that we’re going to come back and give them a run for their money, and we did that both games.”

Up Next

The Sabres return home to KeyBank Center for their preseason finale against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 p.m. on Friday. Tickets are available here.

Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will have the call on MSG and WGR 550, beginning with a pregame show at 6:30 p.m.