Buffalo Sabres at Columbus Blue Jackets
· National Hockey League
Knies has 2 goals and an assist in Columbus debut as Blue Jackets beat Sabres 6-3
Cole Sillinger, Adam Fantilli, Sean Monahan and Mathieu Olivier also scored, and Charlie Coyle added three assists. Reigning Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski had two assists, and Jet Greaves stopped 23 shots.
Knies, acquired from Toronto on Monday, became the first Columbus player to score twice in his Blue Jackets debut. The three points tied the franchise record for a debut set by Artemi Panarin, who had three assists in 2017.
Mattias Samuelsson, Jack Quinn and Konsta Helenius scored for Buffalo, and Noah Ostlund and Owen Power each had two assists. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 16 shots.
Samuelsson, back after suffering a lower-body injury in the preseason, gave the Sabres the lead at 7:21 of the first period while the teams were skating 4 on 4. Sillinger tied it with 7:09 to go in the period, burying Coyle’s drop pass in front of the net.
Knies scored his first Blue Jackets goal on the power play with 2:02 left, then assisted on Fantilli’s goal with 1:16 to go to give Columbus a 3-1 lead.
Quinn pulled Buffalo within a goal 1:25 into the second period before Knies restored the two-goal lead. Helenius made it 4-3, and Monahan added a power-play goal with 5:39 to go in the third. Olivier made it 6-3 with an empty-net goal with 2:07 remaining.
Columbus has won four straight home games against Buffalo.
Blue Jackets: Host Utah on Saturday night.
See AP’s full NHL coverage here
Regular Season SeriesCBJ lead series 1-0
Scoring Summary
 |
Goal | 1st Period 7:21 | Mattias Samuelsson Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Noah Ostlund (1), Owen Power (1) |
 |
Goal | 1st Period 12:51 | Cole Sillinger Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Charlie Coyle (1), Denton Mateychuk (1) |
|
Goal | 1st Period 17:58 | Matthew Knies Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Charlie Coyle (2), Zach Werenski (1) |
|
Goal | 1st Period 18:44 | Adam Fantilli Goal (1) Deflected, assists: Zach Werenski (2), Matthew Knies (1) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 1:25 | Jack Quinn Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Zach Benson (1), Noah Ostlund (2) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 7:45 | Matthew Knies Goal (2) Tip-In, assists: Emil Andrae (1), Kent Johnson (1) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 13:14 | Konsta Helenius Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Ryan McLeod (1), Owen Power (2) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 14:21 | Sean Monahan Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Valeri Nichushkin (1), Dmitri Voronkov (1) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 17:53 | Mathieu Olivier Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Charlie Coyle (3) |
Statistics
 BUF |
 CBJ |
|
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Blocked Shots | 15 |
| 21 | Hits | 25 |
| 2 | Takeaways | 6 |
| 26 | Shots | 23 |
| 0 | Power Play Goals | 2 |
| 5 | Power Play Opportunities | 3 |
| 0.0 | Power Play Percentage | 66.7 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 29 | Faceoffs Won | 36 |
| 44.6 | Faceoff Win Percent | 55.4 |
| 15 | Giveaways | 13 |
| 4 | Total Penalties | 6 |
| 11 | Penalty Minutes | 15 |
Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|
Buffalo Sabres Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Rasmus Dahlin, D | Out | Oct 16 |
| Alex Lyon, G | Injured Reserve | Oct 15 |
| Matt Grzelcyk, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 13 |
| Jason Zucker, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 6 |
| Conor Timmins, D | Injured Reserve | Sep 29 |
Game Information
Nationwide Arena
Location: Columbus, OH
Attendance: 18,207 | Capacity:
Location: Columbus, OH
Attendance: 18,207 | Capacity:
2026-27 Metropolitan Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Carolina |
1 | 1 | 15 | 7 |
 NY Rangers |
1 | 3 | 13 | 6 |
 Washington |
0 | 3 | 10 | 5 |
 NY Islanders |
1 | 3 | 9 | 4 |
 New Jersey |
0 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
 Pittsburgh |
1 | 4 | 7 | 3 |
 Columbus |
0 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
 Philadelphia |
3 | 6 | 5 | 1 |