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Two-goal Tuch leads Sabres past Blue Jackets

Feb 4, 2025; Buffalo, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabres right wing Alex Tuch (89) celebrates his goal with center Ryan McLeod (71) during the second period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

Buffalo tried to send a message to the rest of the league, but eventually won just playing hockey

Score: Buffalo Sabres 3-2 Columbus Blue Jackets
Shots: BUF 21-29 CBJ

Buffalo Sabres Goals: Byram (6), Tuch (17, 18)
Columbus Blue Jackets Goals: Johnson (16), Provorov (5)

Minus 1: What Was That?

Seconds after puck drop Dennis Gilbert dropped the gloves against noted hardman Mathieu Olivier. Why, you might be tempted to ask?

Had the Sabres had a team meeting and decided they wanted to come out and send a message to the rest of the league that their top players will not be head-hunted? This was after Tage Thompson had his clock cleaned by Stefan Noesen in the previous win over New Jersey Devils without any sort of retribution at all. The sight of the Devils forward being shielded by the refs in expectation of retribution from.. no one at all.. is one that will stick in the mind for a long time. What is worse is that Noesen had already sent Alex Tuch flying well after he had scored earlier in the game, with no consequences whatsoever.

Don’t forget, this is a Buffalo team that had a straight up line brawl with Chris Neil and the Ottawa Senators when he had run Chris Drury with Lindy Ruff behind the bench. Looks like with time the fire within the coach has greatly diminished, and he now reflects the same turn-the-other-cheek mentality that we’ve become known for since Ryan Miller was sent flying by some Eastern European hooligan whose nickname rhymes with a popular moonshine.

Ruff for his part during the post-game press conference insisted that this wasn’t about the Thompson hit at all. He said he saw the Blue Jackets team sheet come in and Olivier was on the starting lines, and the coach wasn’t sure what to expect so he sent out our toughest player as well.

As expected, Gilbert was sent flying and the fight was soon forgotten as the Blue Jackets started off the better of the two sides, leaving us all to wonder, whose idea was this anyway?

Plus 1: Byram responds to his critics

There’s been lots of conversation this week about Bowen Byram’s dependence on Rasmus Dahlin, and how he can’t do much without the Swedish superstar. Well, he answered that criticism with a goal in the first period to put the Sabres ahead, and it was a good goal too.

Dahlin is on a 23-game goal drought, but in that time he’s gotten twenty assists since just before Christmas and leads the league in that statistic. Aside from him though, there has been no other scoring from the defense, a big reason why the Sabres sit where they do in the standings.

Byram though had a good game and an even better opener when he pounced on Jason Zucker’s blocked shot to slam home.

Plus 2: Gilbert Gets It Done

Speaking during the post-game, Gilbert fielded a lot of questions about what looked like a pointless fight. He made it sound like it wasn’t necessarily premeditated, and when told by the journalists that the team had been savaged and laughed at across the hockey world for the lack of response to the hit on Thompson, the defenseman seemed genuinely surprised, insisting that the team was very close and not affected by this kind of issue.

Gilbert was two-thirds of the way to a Gordie Howe hat-trick in the second period when he was involved in a nifty move that saw his shot deflected goalwards by Alex Tuch to beat Elvis Merzlikins to make the score 2-1.

Plus 3: No Third Period Collapses

Buffalo have a reputation in the league for folding when in leading positions. Tonight when Tuch nabbed his second of the game and his 18th of the season late in the third period, they were once again in a two-goal lead and facing an opponent that was challenging for the playoffs. To add to that, the Sabres had already only dressed eleven forwards to let Gilbert play, and when Beck Malenstyn left the game with back spasms, they were down to ten forwards.

The groans of frustration were audible when Ivan Provorov made it a one-goal game about halfway through the final period, but the Sabres did just enough to hold on for the win. They only registered one shot in the entire period, but at the same time limited Columbus to just eight shots as well.

James Reimer only found out this morning that he would be starting with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen day-to-day, but he stepped in and did an admirable job tonight, fully deserving the win. For the record, Buffalo called up Felix Sandstrom from Rochester to be the back-up with Devon Levi away at the AHL All-Star Game.

Final Thoughts

The Sabres closed out the last game of a four-game homestand with another win, to make it four in a row now, the first time they have managed that in two seasons. Why they continue to occupy the Eastern Conference basement, they are still four points behind the Montreal Canadiens and ten behind the Detroit Red Wings, so stop looking at the standings.

Minus Tage Thompson, Buffalo did well to win tonight. The good news is that the forward was in the press box tonight and looking fine, so him missing the game looks precautionary. Goalie UPL also should be fine.

Comment of the Game for me was from Swontfan

Sabres have all the skill to be a playoff team – can beat all teams on any given night. Frustrating that they take mid season holidays.

Next up for Buffalo is a trip to Music City for a game against Nashville Predators on Saturday before a long break for the Four Nations tournament.

Talking Points