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Buffalo Sabres Defeat Blue Jackets With Pysyk’s Help

By Melissa Kania |

Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons scored his third shorthanded goal of the season, Cody Hodgson scored his first goal in 28 games and Michal Neuvirth made 45 saves as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 4-2 Tuesday.

Tonight’s win over the Columbus Blue Jackets was a solid one. Fans of “the tank” may be less than pleased, but I always think it’s great to see a decisive, solid performance by the team and have the success of coming away with two points.

So who were the best players tonight for the Buffalo Sabres?

1. Zemgus Girgensons

Note, first off, that these starts tonight are in no particular order. However, I’d certainly like to give some recognition to center Zemgus Girgensons to kick things off tonight.

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Girgensons had a goal and an assist tonight, his 15th of each of those this season. He scored the second goal of the game and also assisted on Chris Stewart‘s goal that made it a 4-1 game.

With the goal tonight, Girgensons is tied for third leaguewide in shorthanded scoring this season. It also marks the first time a member of the Buffalo Sabres has scored three shorthanded goals in a season since 2007-08, when Derek Roy, Daniel Paille and Jaroslav Spacek all did it.

In addition to the two points, Girgensons had one shot on goal, two hits and one blocked shot — all in just 7:55 ice time during tonight’s game. Girgensons left the game after blocking a shot; he put no weight on his leg, was helped off the ice and did not return.

2. Mark Pysyk

Could this be the chance that Mark Pysyk has been waiting for? He’s been up and down between the Buffalo Sabres and the Rochester Americans, but could there be a chance that Pysyk may have seen the last of his time in the AHL for this season?

Pysyk had a solid game tonight, scoring his second goal of the season in just his sixth NHL game of the year. This marks the first multi-goal season of his young NHL career.

Pysyk, recalled on Sunday prior to the game against Nashville due to Tyson Strachan‘s infection and Nikita Zadorov‘s team-enforced suspension, was a team-best plus-3 tonight. He also had four blocked shots and one shot on goal in 18:18 ice time.

3. Zach Bogosian

Tonight, I have to give a star to Zach Bogosian. Every night, he continues to play big minutes and makes an impression on the ice, whether that’s hits, goals or just good old hard work.

This evening against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Bogosian had an assist and played 28:11 of ice time. He registered four hits and two missed shots, plus four blocked shots and one takeway.

Since he joined the Buffalo Sabres, Bogosian has been one of those players that you notice on the ice, whether it’s playing big minutes or making hits. Bogosian has played 24+ minutes in each game since coming to Buffalo and he’ll continue to be a big defensive presence in the time to come.

So — those are my three stars I’ve selected from tonight’s Buffalo Sabres game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. My honorable mention tonight has to be goaltender Michal Neuvirth, who had 45 saves this evening. Another outstanding game for Neuvirth, who continues to carry this team.

Who else would you have picked?

Next: Buffalo Sabres Weekly Stars

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