Blue Jackets continue to look for first win, lose to Sabres 4-2

Heading into Monday afternoon’s Columbus Day matinee at Buffalo, both the Blue Jackets and the Sabres were looking to capture their first win of the 2015-16 season.

The Sabres officially began their next chapter at First Niagara Center with 4-2 win on a day that the Blue Jackets did themselves no favors, giving the Sabres seven power play opportunities.

Chad Johnson, starting in place of injured No. 1 goalie Robin Lehner, kept the Sabres alive in the first period with a huge save on Rene Bourque, one of the Jackets’ best chances in a period with limited opportunities. Bourque was a spark plug for the Jackets and kept the energy high throughout the first 20 minutes, and beyond.

Less than a minute into the second period, Jackets captain Nick Foligno was sent to the penalty box for hooking. And shortly after, 2:33 into the second, Rasmus Ristolainen ripped a hard slap shot that beat Sergei Bobrovsky from the far right point to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead.

Bobrovsky saved 15 of the 16 shots on net during the second, keeping the Blue Jackets in the game despite a barrage of penalties. The Blue Jackets racked up 11 penalty minutes in the second period, but thanks to their goaltender, entered the final period down just a goal.

Less than five minutes into the third period, the Jackets again found themselves on the penalty kill with Foligno in the box for tripping up Jack Eichel. The Sabres capitalized on their power play advantage on a Ryan O’Reilly goal that was set up by a great pass from Matt Moulson.

Brandon Saad was the first to put Columbus on the board after he caught a rebound from Foligno, and cut the Jackets’ deficit in half 7:30 into the third period.

But before the celebration was over, Eichel answered back and scored an unassisted, gorgeous top-shelf goal at 9:21, putting the Sabres back into a comfortable lead. That goal would end up being the game-winner for the home team.

Again, it was too many unforced errors, too many penalties, and not enough opportunities of their own that cost the Blue Jackets (0-3-0).

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