Blue Jackets' NHL lineup skates past Sabres in road exhibition
Voracek, Laine pace the offense with a combined five points; Korpisalo, Nyquist log first preseason action.
Brian Hedger
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Some NHL teams have the luxury of waiting until the last couple games of the preseason to ice their season-opening lineup for a practice spin.
The Blue Jackets aren’t one of them.
They’re in the thick of figuring out who’s going to play where and with whom, so they’ve gone into NHL mode early — starting with a 5-3 victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday at KeyBank Center.
“We’re in a different situation,” coach Brad Larsen said. “A lot of new faces, a lot of jobs are up for grabs. I’ve planned it out where I want our veterans to play four games if they could. The first three, a lot of guys got different looks from our American league (group) and some of the kids, so we’re going to be going more heavy NHL. Guys are fighting for jobs, so I want to give them that opportunity down the stretch here in the last three games.”
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The Blue Jackets (3-1-1) also went heavy on NHL talent against the Sabres, racing out to a 5-1 lead after two periods and running out the clock in the third. According to reports in Buffalo, the Sabres were eager to face an NHL-laden lineup on their home ice.
It was a chance to measure up, but the Blue Jackets were a little too much to handle.
Jakub Voracek led the way with three points on a goal and two assists. Patrik Laine and Oliver Bjorkstrand each added a goal and assist. Defenseman Zach Werenski assisted on two goals and the Jackets’ other two goals were scored by Emil Bemstrom and Boone Jenner.
Columbus went 2 of 3 on power plays, successfully fended off Buffalo’s lone man-advantage and controlled face-offs with a 57% success rate as a team.
In net, Joonas Korpisalo made 17 saves on 18 shots in his first start of the preseason, while rookie Daniil Tarasov allowed two goals on 10 shots in the third period. Gustav Nyquist played his first game against another team since undergoing shoulder surgery Nov. 4, 2020 that caused him to miss all of last season.
Buffalo’s Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen played the entire game, allowing five goals on 30 shots. Casey Mittelstadt scored two goals to lead the Sabres, who also got a goal from JJ Peterka and two assists from Jeff Skinner.
“More games like that you get (for) your legs the better,” Voracek said of the Jackets’ NHL-heavy lineup. “I think ‘Lars’ wants (vets) to play two more games, which is good.We’ve got three more games. We’ve got to continue to work on (some) things and be ready (for the season-opener).”
The Blue Jackets are off ice Tuesday and will host the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday at Nationwide Arena. They will finish their preseason slate with a back-to-back that starts Friday in St. Louis and concludes Saturday at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They open the season Oct. 14 in Columbus against the Arizona Coyotes.
“It’ll be close,” Larsen said of finalizing a lineup before facing Pittsburgh. “There might be some question marks with some guys. We’ll see. We’ll kind of dictate that as we go here.”
Goals
First period
CBJ — The Blue Jackets went up 1-0 just 3:31 into the game on Voracek’s power-play goal. It was the fourth time in five preseason games they scored the first goal. Voracek made the Sabres’ Jacob Bryson pay for hooking Emil Bemstrom at 2:38 to give Columbus and early man-advantage.
Voracek scored from the bottom half of the right circle after getting the puck from Oliver Bjorkstrand. The veteran forward beat Luukkonen inside the left goal post on the far side. Buffalo’s Colin Miller was also called for cross-checking Bjorkstrand on the play, keeping the Jackets on the power play. Bjorkstrand and Zach Werenski assisted on Voracek’s goal.
CBJ — Bemstrom made it 2-0 with an unassisted goal with 7:11 left. After an egregious turnover by Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, Bemstrom scooped the puck at center ice and skated it into a breakaway against Luukkonen. He beat the goalie past the blocker with a quick deke to a backhand shot for his second preseason goal.
BUF — Buffalo cut the Jackets’ lead in half, pulling within 2-1 on Mittelstadt’s goal with 2:48 to play in the period. Vinnie Hinostroza fired a shot wide right of the net from the high slot, possibly on purpose, and the ricochet off the end boards landed right near the net. Mittselstadt scooped it and tucked it past Korpisalo on the short side. Hinostroza and Skinner assisted.
Second period
CBJ — Another power-play goal pushed the Blue Jackets’ lead to 3-1 just 1:35 into the period. Jenner scored it after receiving a long pass from Voracek in front of the net. After wheeling around in front of the crease, he slid the puck between Luukkonen’s pads for his third goal of the preseason and second to cap a power play from that spot on the ice. Voracek and Laine assisted.
CBJ — Columbus blew the game open with a pair of late goals in the second, including Laine’s to make it 4-1 with 3:48 left. Gliding into position inside the inner half of the right circle, the sharpshooting forward took a pass from Voracek and wristed it into the top left corner on the far side of the net. Voracek’s pass slid right between the legs of Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018. It was Voracek’s second assist and third point.
CBJ — Bjorkstrand scored 1:12 later to make it 5-1, scoring his first goal of the preseason with a backhand from the slot the beat Luukkonen under the crossbar on the stick side. The shot also sailed past Dahlin, who was defending on the play. Gustav Nyquist and Zach Werenski assisted. Nyquist (shoulder surgery) played for the first time this preseason and first time since the Blue Jackets’ loss in the playoffs to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020. Werenski’s assist was his second of the game.
Third period
BUF — Just as they did in Columbus five days earlier, the Sabres began to climb back into a game that appeared to be over after two periods. Peterka’s goal cut the Jackets’ lead to 5-2 at 6:26 of the third, which was handled by rookie goalie Daniil Tarasov. After collecting the puck in the neutral zone, Peterka chipped it behind Zach Werenski just inside the Columbus blue line. He scooted around the Blue Jackets’ defenseman, cut hard to his right in the low slot and flicked the puck into the net inside the left post. Rasmus Asplund assisted.
BUF — The Sabres got another one back on Mittelstadt’s second goal of the game, cutting the Columbus lead to 5-3 with 8:45 left. Carrying the puck up the right wing, he sent a hard wrist shot past Tarasov’s blocker side, again beating him inside the left post. Skinner assisted.
Save of the game
Luukkonen had a rough night for the Sabres, but made an impressive stop late in the first period to keep the score 2-1 in favor of Columbus. A slick setup feed from Jack Roslovic behind the Buffalo net set up rookie Yegor Chinakhov with a prime scoring chance alone in the low slot. Luukkonen deftly gloved his quick shot aimed low inside the right post and held onto it.
They said it
“I’d say a really responsible center defensively. Let’s be honest about that.” — Voracek on what type of center would pair best with himself and Laine.
“If you have somebody like (Laine) on that side (of the power play), they have to cover him because he’s really dangerous. I would say there’s four guys or three other guys like him. It’s Pastrnak, Stamkos, Ovechkin and Laine are four guys who can snipe from there. It’s good. It gives me more room, more options and we’re going to have to shoot a lot more, which I did today … which kind of surprised me too.” — Voracek on teams overplaying Laine’s one-timer from the left face-off circle on power plays.
“I don’t think we start waving the pom-poms just yet.” — Larsen on early success for the Jackets’ NHL power-play groups.
“I felt pretty rigid in the first period, but in the second period, when I got some more shots, I got the timing right and felt way more comfortable.” — Korpisalo on his return to action.
“For me, if I’m shooting a one-timer, I don’t really want a screen or ‘slash’ need it sometimes. It’s probably more important for those wristers up top for the tips and that kind of stuff, and he’s going to take away (the goalie’s) eyes.” — Laine on Jenner’s ability to screen goalies on power plays.
Pluses/Minuses
Plus
Laine and Voracek continue to develop chemistry paired on the same line. They’ve played together since the start of training camp and it looks like a connection that could put up impressive numbers. Jenner centered the duo at even strength and on power plays, which netted six points for the trio (three goals, three assists). Voracek and Jenner scored the Blue Jackets’ power-play goals, while Laine assisted on the latter’s tally.
“Obviously, the power play’s working well, which is very important for the future,” Voracek said. “Five-on-five, it’s still kind of sluggish. As a line, we had some good moments, some bad moments, but it’s going to happen … especially if it’s the second game of the (preseason). But we produced, you know?”
Plus
The Blue Jackets have scored 18 goals through their first five preseason games for an average of 3.6 per game for a team that finished near the bottom of the league in scoring the past two years. The Jackets have also reached five goals and gone 3 of 6 on power plays during a pair of victories with Laine, Voracek and Jenner in the lineup.
Minus
Roslovic is a playmaking center, but only attempted one shot that missed the net in 15:47 of ice time. It’s only the preseason, so it’s not a red flag. Still, the Blue Jackets will need Roslovic to contribute like he did last season with 12 goals and 22 assists in 48 games.
Plus
Roslovic has shown marked improvement on face-offs his the three preseason games, including an 8 of 12 (67%) performance Monday. Roslovic has won 56.6% of his draws overall (30 of 53), including 59.5% in two games against Buffalo (22 of 37).
Last season, he posted a 39.1% clip and rallied to reach that mark. He worked hard last season and this summer on improving at face-offs, which is showing now.
Minus
The defensive pairing of Vladislav Gavrikov and Adam Boqvist were on the ice for both of Mittelstadt’s goals.
There wasn’t much either could’ve done on the first, which was scored after Vinnie Hinostroza’s shot caromed off the end boards right to Mittelstadt. Both were more involved on the second. Gavrikov was unable to break up the play at the blue line and Boqvist got caught in a backpedal that prevented him from contesting Mittelstadt’s wrist shot.
It was the first time they've worked together in a game, as Gavrikov previously skated with Jake Bean in the Jackets' 5-4 shootout loss to Buffalo last week. Bean worked with Zach Werenski on the top pairing this time, finishing with two shots.
Plus
Emil Bemstrom attempted seven shots, put six on goal and scored with his breakaway backhand move. He only logged 13:11, but stood out in a positive way after struggling in the Jackets’ 5-1 loss Saturday in Detroit.
“Today was a much better game,” Larsen said. “I thought the game before he wasn’t so good. He got another crack tonight and he looked much better.”
Plus
Korpisalo and Gustav Nyquist made their preseason debuts. Last season, Nyquist didn’t play a single game while recovering from shoulder surgery and Korpisalo missed the last couple weeks with a lower-body injury. The Blue Jackets needed both to get into a preseason game and contribute, which they did.
Korpisalo was sharp in his two periods. Nyquist showed some expected rust, but assisted on Bjorkstrand’s goal and had his shoulder tested in the first period on a hit that knocked him to the ice.
“He got blind-sided a little bit, but he got right back up and started playing,” Larsen said. “That’s what he needs to trust. He needs to trust his body now and get in those situations, and I think he was just excited to play again.”
bhedger@dispatch.com
@BrianHedger