In the next “How They Fared”, we will talk about the Buffalo Sabres did against the Columbus Blue Jackets in their three-game series.
Everyone thought the Columbus Blue Jackets were going to be a playoff team after signing the biggest fish in the free agent market, Johnny Gaudreau. Well that wasn’t the case at all. Oddly enough, they would be one of the worst teams in hockey.
For the next edition of “How They Fared“, we take a look at the three games between the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus. Their first meeting would take place in Columbus back in December. What a first period it was for the Sabres.
After the end of the first frame, the score was 6-0 Buffalo. Yes you read that right, 6-0 after 20 minutes. Four of those six goals came from Tage Thompson as he would score a hat trick in the first period. Columbus would score the next two goals to start off the second period.
It would not last long as Thompson would score once again to get his fifth goal of the night. The Sabres scored two more goals thanks to Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch to take a 9-2 lead into the final period.
The third period only saw two goals being scored, both by Columbus and Buffalo went on to win the game 9-4. It was complete domination by Thompson and despite Columbus scoring only four goals, the game was over after the first period.
Buffalo Sabres won the season series vs. the Blue Jackets
Columbus would make their only trip to Buffalo during the final day in the month of February. The Blue Jackets scored first but it didn’t last long as Thompson would score once again just 18 seconds later. However, Columbus scored before the first period ended and had the 2-1 lead after the first 20 minutes.
In the second period, it was all Blue Jackets and they held a 4-1 lead to wrap up the second period. Before the halfway point of the third period, the Sabres showed some life when Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka scored to make it 4-3.
Despite showing some fight, Columbus scored an empty netter to seal the 5-3 win. The Sabres have shown to play down to their opponents and this game was one of those examples. It was a frustrating game for the Sabres and both teams would play their final game on the last day of the regular season.
34 seconds into the game, Johnny Hockey got Columbus on the board first and the score remained the same heading into the first intermission. In the second period, Buffalo three unanswered goals to take the 3-1 lead.
Columbus would not go away, however, as they would make it a one score game before the second period ended. Casey Mittelstadt and Krebs scored twice in the third period and the Buffalo Sabres closed the 2022-23 regular season with a win.
I think a lot of people were shocked to see the Jackets be so bad last year. And even though Buffalo couldn’t sweep them, at least they didn’t lose the season series.
(Series information provided by Hockey-Reference)