The Buffalo Sabres dropped their opening preseason game by a score of 4-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The two teams played a scoreless first period although it was not without excitement.  An old fashioned brawl took place after Patrick Kaleta laid a hit on Nikolai Zherdev.  In typical fashion Andrew Peters received a game misconduct for being the third man in an altercation, just 9:03 into the game.

The Jackets jumped to a 2-0 lead early in the second period, taking advantage of a 5 on 3 powerplay. The Sabres allowed four powerplay goals in all as Jocelyn Thibault allowed four goals on 22 shots.  The Sabres only goal was scored by Clarke MacArthur who tipped a shot from Mike Funk.  All the goals in the game were scored while Columbus was on the powerplay, with the Sabres only goal scored by Clarke MacArthur while shorthanded.  MacArthur tipped a shot by Mike Funk in to the net behind Jackets goaltender Steve Mason.

The Sabres and Jackets will meet again on Sunday at 5pm in Columbus.