The point streak continues.
Eric Robinson's first-career hat trick and Elvis Merzlikins' 39 saves helped the Blue Jackets beat the Sabres 5-3 at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.
1st Period
Kent Johnson opened the scoring at 2:53 on the power play with a wicked snipe from the left circle into the top-right corner of the net.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| BUF SABRES | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
#CBJ Johnson (13) goal pic.twitter.com/XbOP2sRxoN
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) March 1, 2023
After Robinson turned the puck over in the neutral zone, Jeff Skinner found Tage Thompson with a beautiful pass, leading Thompson to fire a right-circle wrist shot over the right shoulder of Merzlikins at 3:11.
After another neutral-zone turnover by the Blue Jackets, Zemgus Girgensons had a great chance to double Buffalo's lead at 8:24 with a backhand shot from the right doorstep, but Merzlikins made the save.
Robinson gave the Jackets the lead at 13:41 with a top-shelf shot from the slot after Sean Kuraly fired the puck into the slot after winning a behind-the-net puck battle against two Sabres.
#CBJ Robinson (6) goal pic.twitter.com/NoVLAj2psS
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) March 1, 2023
The Blue Jackets led 2-1 after the first period while trailing 16-15 in shots on goal.
2nd Period
Patrik Laine nearly doubled the Jackets' lead at 7:05 with a drive to the net but after he went to his forehand, he couldn't put the puck on the net.
Cole Sillinger had two great chances to score at 9:43 and 9:44 when his shot was stopped by Craig Anderson from the left doorstep and then he hit the crossbar from the same spot after corralling the rebound.
Robinson scored his second goal of the night at 11:53 from the left doorstep after receiving a behind-the-net pass from Kuraly.
#CBJ Robinson (7) goal pic.twitter.com/HRyPZBqsfe
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) March 1, 2023
Boone Jenner scored a highlight-reel goal at 19:42 when he danced around Owen Power and went bar-down from the left doorstep.
#CBJ Jenner (19) goal pic.twitter.com/aXFcBgP10D
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) March 1, 2023
Columbus led 4-1 after 40 minutes with a 28-27 edge in shots on goal.
3rd Period
Jack Quinn cut the Buffalo deficit to two at 5:02 with a wrist shot from the right circle on a two-on-one rush that beat Merzlikins' to his far side.
#LetsGoBuffalo Quinn goal pic.twitter.com/sbNPkFsIvy
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) March 1, 2023
Thompson nearly scored his second goal of the night after weaving through Columbus' defenders and going from the backhand to the forehand before being robbed by Merzlikins' glove at 8:59.
JJ Peterka cut the Columbus lead to one at 9:46 on the power play with a one-timer from the right circle that snuck through Merzlikins' five-hole.
#LetsGoBuffalo Peterka goal pic.twitter.com/IOjNzj5yNB
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) March 1, 2023
Peterka nearly scored another power-play goal from the same spot at 16:49 but hit the post with a one-timer.
Robinson completed his first-career hat-trick at 19:24, scoring on an empty net from the left wing.
With the win, the Jackets improve to 20-35-6.
Stats
- Shots on Goal: CBJ 36-41 BUF
- Faceoff %: CBJ 46.7-53.3 BUF
- Power play: CBJ 1/1-1/3 BUF
- Takeaways: CBJ 9-5 BUF
- Giveaways: CBJ 15-11 BUF
- Blocked shots: CBJ 14-9 BUF
- Hits: CBJ 25-10 BUF
-
5-on-5 stats (via naturalstattrick.com):
- Expected Goals (xG): CBJ 2.91-2.48 BUF
- Chances (CF): CBJ 53-57 BUF
- Shots (SF): CBJ 31-34 BUF
- Scoring Chances (SCF): CBJ 23-26 BUF
- High-Danger Chances (HDCF): CBJ 15-5 BUF
Injury Update
Adam Boqvist returned to the lineup after missing Sunday's game with a lower-body injury.
Next Up
The Jackets return home to take on the Seattle Kraken on Friday at 7 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
The club heads back on the road to face the Senators in Ottawa on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
