JJ Peterka continues to light up the stat sheet as Sabres win big

Just one game after he lit up the scoreboard with three goals, Sabres winger JJ Peterka again enjoyed an outstanding afternoon or early evening, whatever you want to call it. He finished the 6-1 win vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets with a pair of assists, one to open the scoring on a power play goal courtesy of Owen Power and a second late in the game with Mattias Samuelsson taking the honors. 

Alright, let’s slow down now, you may say, since, once again, the Sabres played primarily a group of Blue Jackets who won’t be suiting up for the NHL often this season. But as I stated yesterday, and I’ll also reiterate, the Blue and Gold are blowing out opponents they need to be winning big against. 

Remember how poorly Devon Levi played this time last year, even against not-so-good competition? Yeah, it foreshadowed something, but Levi looked rather good today, saving 25 of 26 shots on goal, so let’s appreciate the improvements, even if the competition is currently marginal. 

Overall, Peterka has been the Blue and Gold’s best player through the first two games this preseason, but let’s give a shoutout to Jack Quinn, who also looked good in both contests, along with Dylan Cozens. 

Peterka, Sabres, again win big in a game that they were supposed to win big

Do you know why I’m excited about Peterka and Company playing good hockey, even amidst so-so competition? These games are confidence builders, and it’s why winning them is more important than one may otherwise care to think. 

If the Sabres skated onto the ice tonight and won this game by a score of 3-2, it would be tough to think they’d be heading into the first regular season contest with so much confidence. Last preseason, they were up-and-down, then they allowed the NY Rangers to skate all over them for 60 minutes. 

So, once again, I’ll take these big wins as they come, and I’ll take Peterka’s epic performance, along with Jack Quinn’s, Zach Benson’s, Peyton Krebs’, and anyone else who I didn’t mention. No, the games don’t count, but the confidence boosters do, and these underrated yet important intangibles could serve the Blue and Gold well early in the season. 

Being that they’re kicking off the 2024-25 campaign on an international stage, they need as many good games before they start to count as they can get.