Sabres' winning streak snapped in Columbus despite 41 shots

COLUMBUS – Rasmus Dahlin felt a winnable game had slipped away following the Buffalo Sabres’ 3-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

The Sabres led 2-0 in the first period and finished the night with 41 shots, their second-highest total this season.

Columbus scored three unanswered goals – the first of which came with 8.1 seconds left in the opening period – and received 39 saves from goaltender Jet Greaves.

“I thought it was a winnable game,” Dahlin said. “We had our chances. They scored one more goal than us, that’s how it feels now after. We created a lot and I think we could have scored a couple more.”

The loss snapped a season-best, five-game winning streak for the Sabres as well as a seven-game personal winning streak for goaltender James Reimer, who made 27 saves.

Buffalo got an early jump on a Columbus team that was fighting to stave off elimination from the postseason race. JJ Peterka picked the far-side corner from the left circle to open the scoring 11:54 into the game, followed by a Dahlin goal less than three minutes later.

Columbus responded in the final seconds of the period on a breakaway goal from James van Riemsdyk, but the Sabres were able to reclaim momentum coming out of the break. They tallied 18 shots in a scoreless second period, including a late Peterka breakaway.

“Our response to that (first goal) in the second period was great,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think we had eight or nine really good opportunities and they had one. So, the response to that mistake was really good. But we paid dearly for the mistakes we made in the third period.”

Zach Aston-Reese intercepted an attempted breakout pass along the wall in the Buffalo zone and carried the puck to the slot to score the game-tying goal four minutes into the third period.

A slashing penalty against Sam Lafferty – the first taken by either team – set the stage for Boone Jenner’s game-winning goal on the power play with 13:18 remaining. Jenner batted in a bouncing rebound out of mid-air following a shot by Kirill Marchenko.

The Sabres nearly tied the game on their own late power play, but Jiri Kulich’s shot from the faceoff circle hit the post. They had several attempts to score through traffic with Reimer pulled late, all of which were turned away by Greaves.

“Unbelievably close,” Dahlin said. “We just couldn’t put the puck in. I feel like we had some great chances, some great tips, some good rebounds too. It didn’t bounce our way.”

Here’s more from the loss.

1. Dahlin made two highlight-reel plays on the sequence that led to his goal, beginning when he deked around Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan at the offensive blue line and carried the puck toward the slot.

Upon receiving a return feed from Zach Benson, Dahlin hesitated to evade a shot-blocking attempt from defenseman Dante Fabbro before releasing a wrist shot from the left circle.

The Sabres captain also had an assist, giving him 12 points (4+8) in the last 10 games.

2. The loss opened Buffalo’s final road trip of the season, which concludes with back-to-back games against Florida and Tampa Bay on Saturday and Sunday.

Ryan McLeod pointed to the Sabres’ chances on Thursday as positives to build upon and spoke of the importance of finishing strong on the road. The Sabres are 13-23-2 away from home this season, a stark contrast to their 22-13-3 record at KeyBank Center (not including their neutral-site loss in Czechia).

“We’ve been trying to improve our road record,” he said. “I think if we cleaned that up, we’d be in the mix here. So, it’s frustrating, but I think we can take a lot into next year with how we finish the season here.”

Up next

The Sabres continue the road trip in Florida on Saturday. Coverage on MSG begins at 5:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 6.