The Buffalo Sabres are set to play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, Apr. 9 at KeyBank Center, following a comeback victory over the New York Rangers.
This matchup holds importance as Columbus remains in contention for a wild card playoff spot, while Buffalo seeks to maintain its lead atop the Atlantic Division with just one week left in the regular season.
During Wednesday’s game against the Rangers, the Sabres overcame puck management struggles and a deficit through two periods by outshooting their opponent in the third period and scoring three goals. “We got back to it in the third period, our game,” Alex Tuch said. “Simple, fast, direct, a little chaos in front. Ended up with two net-front goals, so it was good.” Jason Zucker also commented on home-ice advantage: “Our fans have been incredible, so anytime you can play more games on home ice, the better. But for us, our focus is getting to our game and feeling really comfortable with what we’re doing and having the most confidence possible going into Game 1.”
Goaltender Colten Ellis is expected to start for Buffalo due to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen playing Wednesday night and Alex Lyon being unavailable for at least a week because of injury. Jordan Greenway returns to the lineup after missing one game.
The Sabres have shown strong performance this season in back-to-back games with an 8-1-3 record under those circumstances. Several players are approaching personal milestones: Rasmus Dahlin is two points away from his career high; Zach Benson recently recorded his second career two-goal game; and Tuch reached 198 career goals.
Columbus ended a six-game losing streak with a late comeback win over Detroit but faces tough opponents ahead as they continue their push for a playoff spot. The Blue Jackets remain the only Eastern Conference team that Buffalo has not defeated this season.
