Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each scored a goal and had an assist, while Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help the Columbus Blue Jackets achieve a 6-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. This marked the Blue Jackets’ first home win of the season.
Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese, and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus (2-2-0), and Zach Werenski contributed with two assists.
For Buffalo, Ryan McLeod, Owen Power, and JJ Peterka found the net, and Jiri Kulich scored his first NHL goal. Devon Levi stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two consecutive road games and five out of their first six overall.
Buffalo didn’t register a shot on goal until 10:51 into the first period and ended up being outshot 25-24.
The team’s Russian players made a big impact as Chinakhov and Marchenko each scored their second goals of the season in just four games. Chinakhov has a four-game point streak and leads the team with six points, while Marchenko extended his assist streak to three games.
In the last minutes of the second period, both teams scored three goals. Kulich scored for Buffalo at 17:29, bringing the score to 3-2. However, Mathieu Olivier quickly scored 29 seconds later to give Columbus a two-goal lead again. Owen Power then narrowed the gap for Buffalo with a goal 25 seconds before the end of the period. Aston-Reese then added to Columbus’s lead just 15 seconds into the final period.
The Blue Jackets are facing injury problems again, similar to last season. Kent Johnson left the game early in the second period due to a wrist injury after falling over James Van Riemsdyk, who had been tripped.
Veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson attended the game in a shoulder splint after being placed on injured reserve following Tuesday’s home opener loss to Florida. Goalie Elvis Merzlikins is also out for a short time due to an upper body injury.
