For the sixth straight season Buffalo will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs.
By Chris Ryndak / Sabres.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena. Evan Rodrigues continued his strong rookie campaign, scoring Buffalo’s lone goal on the power play.
With the man advantage, Buffalo is tops in the NHL at 25.3 percent (57 for 225). They’re a full two-percentage points higher than Toronto, who is second. They’ve now scored five power-play goals over the past three games and are now 7-for-10 on the power play in their last five games.
However, with the loss, their Stanley Cup Playoff hopes have been dashed and they have been eliminated from postseason contention.
Here’s what you need to know.
Bobrovsky, coming off of a shutout against Philadelphia in his last game, made 41 saves in an effort that proved to be the difference in a 3-1 victory for the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Buffalo Sabres at Nationwide Arena.
“Honestly, I think we were the better team today,” Sabres goaltender Anders Nilsson said. “We deserved to win but Bobrovsky played great for them.”
The Blue Jackets got all of their offense during a three-minute stretch in which they controlled the pace of play late in the first period. Kyle Quincey opened the scoring with 5:13 left in the period, intercepting a clearing attempt at the blue line and beating Nilsson with a shot through traffic. Cam Atkinson extended the Columbus lead to 2-0 when he lifted a puck over Nilsson’s shoulder 2:59 later.
Looking at the stat sheet, it’s impossible to miss the fact that Sam Reinhart dressed, sat on the bench, but did not play at all in the game. According to coach Dan Bylsma, Reinhart violated a team policy earlier in the day, and the discipline was not playing in the game.
“It’s tough, but we’re trying to build something here and we’re trying to maintain a culture,” captain Brian Gionta said. “By no means was it something huge, but it’s something that was against what we’re trying to get to and be as a team so obviously it unfolded like it did.”
Kyle Okposo also missed the game due to illness.