A large part of Buffalo’s opening-day lineup suited up for the second exhibition game, giving fans a good look at what the team could look like when the regular season begins. The Sabres’ offense, which ranked among the NHL’s top five last season, kept rolling against Columbus.
If Buffalo wants to build on its Atlantic Division title and make a deeper playoff run, its young forwards will need to keep developing. Noah Östlund and Zach Benson showed why there are high hopes for them. Östlund scored twice, while Benson picked up two assists.
Josh Norris opened the scoring 10:12 into the second period when he ripped a shot past Columbus goaltender Cam Talbot off a feed from Owen Power. Power had a strong night, finishing with three assists.
Östlund then scored his two goals in the second period to give Buffalo a 3–0 lead.
Tage Thompson added to the lead in the third period. He first set up Conor Timmins with a backdoor pass to make it 4–0. Thompson then scored on a rush of his own, giving Buffalo a 5–0 advantage and recording his first goal of the exhibition season.
Corson Ceulemans finally got the Blue Jackets on the scoreboard at the 16:19 mark of the third period, but Columbus could not get any closer.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen played the first 40 minutes for Buffalo and stopped all 13 shots he faced. Colten Ellis took over in the third period and made 11 saves on 12 shots.
The Sabres will continue their exhibition schedule Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings.
