nhl roundup Wednesday’s games
Blue Jackets 5, Sabres 1
COLUMBUS
Seth Jones had a goal and an assist for Columbus to help the Blue Jackets beat the Sabres. Serge Bobrovsky stopped 34 of 35 shots to lead Columbus (6-3-0) to its fifth win in its last seven games. Buffalo dropped to 3-6-2 in front of goalie Chad Johnson, who stopped 33 of 38 shots. The Jackets power play had been an anemic 2-for-20, but got a goal at 12:00 of the first period after Zach Redmond’s hooking call. Oliver Bjorkstrand whipped his second goal of the season past Johnson off an around-the-horn pass from Jones to Sonny Milano, and a picture perfect screen by Boone Jenner. The game became a defensive battle between goalies until the second period when quick puck movement on a rush by Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson set up a trailing Jones, who scored his second goal of the season at 15:20. The Jackets struck again at 17:38 when Jack Jackson’s shot bounced off Johnson, right toward a driving Nick Foligno, who dribbled it into the net. It was the third goal of the season for Foligno, who was moved up this game to center the first line, and it paid off. The Jackets scored again 41 seconds later when Matt Calvert buried a rebound on a big shot from the point by Markus Nutivaara, for his second goal of the season. Ryan Murray also earned an assist. Buffalo finally got on the board at 17:26 of the third period when Seth Griffith beat Bobrovsky from the point for his first goal of the season, assisted by Jordan Nolan and Johan Larsson. But the Jackets still were not done, as Josh Anderson scored his second goal of the season with just 40 seconds left in the game, assisted by Artemi Panarin, his team-leading ninth of the season, and Alexander Wennberg.
Blues 5, Flames 2
ST. LOUIS
Jaden Schwartz and Alex Pietrangelo scored second-period power-play goals and Jake Allen made 23 saves to help the Blues beat the Flames. St. Louis has won three of its last four, losing only to red-hot Las Vegas in overtime. Calgary had won its first four road games this season. Mikael Backlund scored twice for the Flames. Schwartz and Pietrangelo scored in a span of 2:46 to break a 1-1 tie. The Blues had come up empty on their previous 18 power-play chances. Alexander Steen added a goal and three assists for the Blues. It was his first points of the season after missing the first six games with a broken thumb. Paul Stastny scored with 3:32 left to push the lead to 4-2. Joel Edmundson added an empty-net goal with 43.9 seconds left. Schwartz, who has a five-game point streak, converted off a pass from Vladimir Tarasenko to give the Blues the lead for good, 2-1. Tarasenko’s initial shot hit the post, but the rebound bounced right back to him. He found Schwartz open at the side of the net. Calgary goalie Eddie Lack made 24 saves in his first start of the season. He came into the game with a 6-0 career mark against the Blues. Matthew Tkachuk added two assists for the Flames. St. Louis (3-0) and Tampa Bay (5-0) are the only teams unbeaten at home this season. Allen improved to 5-2-1. Pietrangelo leads all NHL defensemen with 12 points.
Associated Press