The Buffalo Sabres saw their league-leading 10-game win streak come to an end with a 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday afternoon at Nationwide Arena. Buffalo suffered its first defeat since December 8, when it fell in Calgary.
Columbus built an early cushion with three first-period goals, including a short-handed tally, and never looked back. Denton Mateychuk opened the scoring just three minutes into the game, followed by Brendan Gaunce’s short-handed goal and Dmitri Voronkov’s finish late in the period to give the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes. Mathieu Olivier added a goal in the second period, and Cole Sillinger capped the scoring with an empty-net goal in the third.
Josh Doan provided the lone offense for Buffalo, scoring his 12th goal of the season at 11:26 of the first period to briefly tie the game. The Sabres were unable to generate sustained offense against Columbus goaltender Jet Greaves, who made 32 saves.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made his second consecutive start for Buffalo and finished with 29 saves.
Columbus received two assists apiece from defensemen Damon Severson and Zach Werenski, while Mateychuk added an assist to go along with his goal as Blue Jackets defensemen continued to contribute offensively.
The Sabres return home to KeyBank Center to host the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].