Columbus Blue Jackets @ Buffalo Sabres – October 28th, 2025 Game Thread

📰 Game Thread – Sabres vs. Blue Jackets
📅 Date: Tonight
🕢 Puck drop: 6:45 p.m. ET
📍 Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY

🔍 Storylines to watch:

• The Columbus Blue Jackets are riding a solid road start (3-1 away) and have averaged 4.25 goals on the road so far.  
• The Buffalo Sabres’ special teams are a key edge: their penalty-kill ranks #1 in the league at ~93.9%.  
• Conversely, Columbus’ power-play is struggling (around 15 %) and their penalty-kill is among the worst (60.7 %).  
• Buffalo has an opportunity to use its home-ice (last change, matchups) to counter Columbus’ speed and attack style. From Columbus’ preview: road games are no longer the disadvantage they once were.  

📊 Key players:

• For Buffalo:
  • Tage Thompson leads with 8 pts in 9 games and poses a threat every shift.  
  • Zach Benson has been sharp with 7 pts (0 G, 7 A) in 6 games.  
  • Their PP (≈23.3 %) is middle-of-the-pack but combined with a stellar PK, makes special teams a battleground.
  •  Carson Meyer, Josh Norris, Jordan Greenway, Justin Danforth, and Tyson Kozak all remain out. Jacob Bryson is out this evening after being considered day-to-day. Michael Kesselring is expected to make his season debut. Mason Geertsen and Colton Ellis are healthy scratches.
• For Columbus:
  • Dmitri Voronkov is leading the Jackets with 9 pts (5 G, 4 A) so far.  
  • The Jackets defend 5-on-5 well (just 11 goals allowed) but their special teams are a major issue.
    
  • Columbus has no injuries. Jake Christiansen and Zach Aston-Reese are healthy scratches.

🎯 What to watch:

• Start fast: Buffalo must avoid early giveaways or falling behind, especially at home where matchups matter.
• Special teams: Can Buffalo’s power play exploit Columbus’ weak PK? Can the Sabres maintain their elite PK when Columbus has the man-advantage?
• Matchups & depth: Columbus’ first line at 5-on-5 has been dominant — Buffalo’s defense and lines will need to be sharp.  
• Momentum swings: A power-play goal at the wrong time or a mismanaged shift could tilt the game either direction.
• Goaltending: Who starts for Buffalo and how he handles early traffic will be a big factor.

Stay tuned here for live updates, key moment breakdowns, and possibly a defining special-teams goal that swings momentum. Let’s hope for an entertaining night! 🏒

1st Period:

20:00 – Opening faceoff is won by the Sabres and the game is underway.

17:00 – First three minutes neither team has had a shot on goal. About even possession.

15:59 – Columbus gets a good look at the net but Alex Lyon makes a nice glove save.

14:36 – Columbus has been getting more time of possession with a fast start to the game with only 3 stoppages up to this point. Lyon has made a pair of quality saves thus far.

13:51 – Yegor Chinakhov scores for Columbus off a very sloppy turnover right in front of the net by Owen Power. Columbus leads 1-0.

11:33 – Ryan McLeod puts up Buffalo’s first shot of the game. The Sabres have looked very lethargic and sloppy out of the gate. They need to clean up their passing. Fortunately, Lyon has been great in net to start this one despite giving up one goal that was not his fault in the slightest.

9:00 – It feels like Buffalo is getting sloppier as the game progresses. They can’t cleanly make passes in the defensive zone and have had trouble getting anything consistent going in the offensive zone.

7:05 – The Sabres have their best offensive possession of the period setting up Rasmus Dahlin with a solid look at a one timer.

2:45 – The Sabres have picked up the offensive pressure the last couple minutes.

1:33 – Buffalo had a great look in front of the Blue Jackets net, but couldn’t put it home. Columbus’s Damon Severson was penalized for roughing and we will get our first look at the Sabres Power Play tonight.

0:00 – Jack Quinn puts a shot on net as the period ends, but otherwise it was an abysmal first 1:33 of that Power Play.

1st Period Summary:

The Sabres came out of the gate very lethargic and it took them nearly 2/3 of the period to wake up. Careless passing led to the Blue Jackets lone goal, and if Alex Lyon didn’t play as well as he has it could be worse. Towards the end of the period the Sabres offense was able to start putting together better possessions, but still, they only had 1 dangerous shot on goal and never really put any pressure of Jet Greaves. The Power Play to end the period was not encouraging as the Sabres couldn’t keep the puck in the offensive zone and continued to struggle with passing. In the second period the Sabres will need to clean up their passes and find more consistency. Columbus outshot Buffalo 14-9 in the period but it felt much worse than that.

2nd Period:

20:00 – The Blue Jackets have won the faceoff and the second period is under way.

19:27 – The Sabres got one look in front of the net, but could not convert the Power Play opportunity.

16:02 – Buffalo is looking better this period. Improved effort and setting up several good looks at the opposing net.

11:07 –  Buffalo has put all the pressure on this period, if they keep this up they will find the back of the net.

8:21 – Josh Doan SCORES for the Sabres! Doan gets the puck in front of the net, rebounds his own miss, and puts it behind the back of Greaves. The game is tied 1-1!

5:48 – Ryan McLeod SCORES for the Sabres! Assisted by Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch, a long slapshot bounces off the leg of Columbus’s Severson into the net. The Sabres lead 2-1!

:39 – Alex Tuch is penalized for interference, we’ll get our first look at the Columbus Power Play.

:18 – Zach Werenski scores for Columbus just 21 seconds into the Power Play.  The game is tied 2-2.

0:00 – The second period has ended and a brawl has broke out on the boards. This game had been getting chippy, Dmitri Voronkov and Josh Dunne were at the center of the scrum.

2nd Period Summary: 

In the second period the Sabres came out with a lot more energy than the first. Buffalo dominated time of possession and was able to find the back of the net twice. The passing was much improved on the period, and if not for the Power Play goal by Columbus in the final 30 seconds, Buffalo would hold a lead into the third. The officiating in the period was certainly not great, and the fans let it be known. The period got much more physical as it went on and was capped off by a brawl as the clock hit zero. This game feels like it will be extremely chippy in the third, but if the Sabres can play as well as they did in the second, they should win this game.

3rd Period:

20:00 – The Blue Jackets win the opening face off, and the Sabres have a Power Play to start the period following Marchenko’s penalty for Columbus in the brawl at the end of the second period.

18:00 – For the second time tonight, the Sabres fail to convert on a Power Play.

17:20 – Josh Dunne SCORES for the Sabres after a scrum for the puck in the blue paint on the deflection from a Samuelsson slapshot. The goal is Dunne’s first of his NHL career. Buffalo LEADS 3-2!

15:55 – Alex Lyon continues a fantastic night with another glove save. Overall the Sabres have come out firing on all cylinders in the third period.

12:35 – The Sabres continue their great period, and this game continues to be chippy.

6:05 – Miles Wood scores for the Blue Jackets. The game is tied 3-3.

1:00 – Columbus has dominated possession the last 5 minutes. 1 minute until OT.

:00 – Tage got a solid look at the end of the period but couldn’t convert. We’re going to overtime.

Overtime:

5:00- Kulich, Dahlin, and Tuch start on the ice in OT for the Sabres. Blue Jackets win the opening faceoff.

4:19 – Kulich misses a wide open breakaway.

3:00 – Miles Wood scores to give Columbus a 4-3 win. Buffalo drops to 4-4-2 despite a strong second and third period and will travel to Boston on Thursday.