Period 1, 10:35 – Johnny Gaudreau from Adam Fantilli (1-1)
Owen Power sent a pass along the end boards that bounced off the referee and onto the stick of Gaudreau. Gaudreau passed to Fantilli in the slot for a one-timer then collected the rebound behind the net, sneaking the puck behind Levi to tie the score.
Period 1, 14:40 – Adam Fantilli from Johnny Gaudreau and Ivan Provorov (2-1, CBJ)
Gaudreau and Fantilli connected once again as Gaudreau passed the puck off the end boards behind the Buffalo net to Fantilli at the backdoor. Fantilli shot the puck off Levi’s arm and in to give Columbus the lead.
Period 1, 19:48 (PP) – Kirill Marchenko from Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski (3-1, CBJ)
After Peyton Krebs was called for a high-sticking penalty, the Blue Jackets capitalized 45 seconds into their power play. Gaudreau fed Marchenko, who shot the puck between his legs and over the left shoulder of Levi.
Period 2, 7:37 – Kirill Marchenko from Yegor Chinakhov and Andrew Peeke (4-1, CBJ)
Marchenko ripped a shot from the left circle for his second of the night.
Period 2, 7:55 – Kirill Marchenko from Yegor Chinakhov and Ivan Provorov (5-1, CBJ)
The Sabres made a goaltending change before Marchenko tallied his third of the game. Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov had a 2-on-1 opportunity when Marchenko held onto the puck himself and beat Luukkonen with a shot from the left faceoff dot.
Period 2, 8:52 – Erik Gudbranson from Alexandre Texier and Sean Kuraly (6-1, CBJ)
Gudbranson extended the Columbus lead with a quick shot from the high slot through traffic.
Period 2, 12:27 – Sean Kuraly from Alexandre Texier and Brendan Gaunce (7-1, CBJ)
Another 2-on-1 opportunity gave the Blue Jackets their seventh goal of the game as Texier slid a pass to Kuraly, who beat Luukkonen alone in front of the blue paint.
Period 2, 18:54 – Kyle Okposo from Casey Mittelstadt and Victor Olofsson (7-2, CBJ)
The Sabres found the scoresheet with 1:06 remaining in the second after Okposo won a fight for the puck behind the Columbus net. Mittelstadt dished a pass to Okposo in the right circle to cut the deficit.
