Columbus Blue Jackets @ Buffalo Sabers: Season 25 4/9/26

With 4 games left in this 82-game, 25th-anniversary season for our Columbus Blue Jackets, we're still in the hunt for a playoff spot. Tonight's road game was against a team that's in the playoffs but still in the fight for home-ice advantage. The Buffalo Sabers sit at 104 points, while we sit at 90. It's been 14 years since the Sabers made it to the playoffs, but they're already in, so congratulations to them, but I want those 2 points! Let's recap some hockey, 5th Line! 

Period 1 would be impressive on both sides of the ice. You have to give credit where it is due, and the Sabers have come a long way in recent years. That said, so have our Blue Jackets. Both facts were on full display in this opening period. Case in point? The shots on goal at the end of this period were 10-10. The only difference was that Sabers' Josh Norris would pick off a pass from Zach Werenski, charge down the ice, passing to teammate Peyton Krebs, and scoring the opening goal of the game at 13:41. This would result in the twentieth assist this season for Josh Norris, and the twelfth goal this season for Peyton Krebs. 

The Sabers would carry that 1-0 lead into Period 2, and then into Period 3, as the posts would be ringing in Period 2, but no goals would come of it. The Blue Jackets led shots in this period, 14-4, making that 1-0 Sabers lead carry over frustrating. So many shots were so close, or blocked by their focused goaltender, Colten Ellis.  

The Blue Jackets would need a goal to tie the game going into Period 3, but the Sabers would make it two goals needed to tie the game at 7:19. Josh Doan would steal a puck from Cole Sillinger, and the slapshot past Jet Greavess would become his twenty-fourth goal this season. No assists. Jack Quinn would make it three goals for the Blue Jackets to tie at 13:21 with goal number twenty of his season. Logan Stanley would add his fifteenth assist this season on the primary, while Jason Zucker would add assist number twenty to his season on the secondary. Then, Josh Doan would add his second goal of the night, twenty-fifth this season, putting the Blue Jackets into a four-goal hole. Zach Benson would add his twenty-eighth assist this season on the primary, while Josh Norris would add his second assist tonight, his twenty-first assist this season, on the secondary. Then, with Jet Greaves on the Blue Jackets bench, Sabers' Captain Rasmus Dahlin would add a fifth goal for his team tonight with an empty net goal. This would be his nineteenth goal this season. Logan Stanley would add his sixteenth assist this season on the primary, while Tyson Kozak would add his third assist this season on the secondary. The game would conclude with a 5-0 Sabers shutout. The Blue Jackets led shots on goal in this final period, 11-10. 

Colten Ellis stopped 35 of our 35 shots on his net, and that's the story here. The Blue Jackets didn't make this game easy on the Sabers, but Colton Ellis made this game easy for his Sabers. It really is as simple as that. Without question, he earned and received the First Star of the Game tonight. 

The Second Star of the Game was Josh Doan with his two goals tonight. 

The Third Star of the Game was Payton Krebs with his goal tonight. 

Our Blue Jackets are still in the Playoff race, but it gets much harder for our team after this loss tonight. The New York Islanders picked up 2 points in a regulation win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3. This puts them now 1 point ahead of us at 91. The Ottawa Senators beat the Florida Panthers, 5-1. The Detroit Red Wings did help us in beating the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-2. So, the good news is that the Flyers are still 2 points ahead of us, as they were when the night started. The downside is that the Red Wings' winning puts them only a point behind us at 89. We have 90 points. 

Our Blue Jackets have three games to play, and 6 points still for the taking. Our last road game of the regular season is Saturday night. We will travel to Montreal to face the Canadians for the last time this season. Funny enough, this is our last game against a Canadian team this season, too. They have 104 points and are locked into a playoff spot already, but much like the Sabers tonight, they're playing for home ice advantage in the playoffs. The puck will drop at 7:00 p.m.  

Go CBJ!  

    

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