Matthew Knies scored two goals and added an assist to propel the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday at Nationwide Arena.
Mattias Samuelsson opened the scoring for Buffalo at 7:21 of the first period with a snap shot. Columbus answered with three consecutive goals to close the period. Cole Sillinger tied the game with a snap shot at 12:51 before Knies scored on the power play at 17:58. Just 46 seconds later, Adam Fantilli deflected a shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to extend the Columbus lead to 3-1.
Buffalo pushed back early in the second period when Jack Quinn scored with a wrist shot at 1:25. Knies restored the two-goal cushion for the Blue Jackets at 7:45 by tipping in his second goal of the night. Konsta Helenius cut the deficit back to one for Buffalo with a snap shot at 13:14 of the middle frame, making it 4-3.
Sean Monahan widened the lead for Columbus with a power-play snap shot at 14:21 of the third period. Mathieu Olivier capped the scoring with an empty-net wrist goal at 17:53. Charlie Coyle assisted on the final goal, finishing the night with three assists.
Columbus capitalized on two of its three power-play opportunities and killed off all five Buffalo advantages. In goal, Jet Greaves earned the win by making 23 saves on 26 shots for the Blue Jackets. Luukkonen took the loss for Buffalo, stopping 17 of 22 shots.
The victory moves Columbus to 1-0-0 on the regular season, while Buffalo drops to 0-1-0.
Columbus will host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, October 20. Buffalo will return to action when it hosts the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, October 21.
