A great start and strong finish that included two late goals from Miles Wood earned the Blue Jackets a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 28 at KeyBank Center.
After coughing up a 1-0 lead and falling behind by scores of 2-1 in the second and 3-2 in the third, Wood’s goals late in the third and 2:53 into overtime made his first game back from a scary eye injury memorable in the fourth straight road win for the Blue Jackets (5-4-0).
According to the NHL, Wood became the second player in Blue Jackets history to send a game to overtime with a tying goal in the third period and also score the OT winner. The other was David Vyborny, who pulled it off twice (Jan. 14, 2006 and March 7, 2007).
Jet Greaves (35 saves) made a great stop on a breakaway in OT by Jiri Kulich, stopping the lone overtime shot for the Sabres (4-4-2). Alex Lyons made 34 saves for Buffalo. The win gives the Blue Jackets a 4-1-0 record in their first five road games plus a victory to start their second straight back-to-back set, which concludes Oct. 29 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nationwide Arena.
Yegor Chinakhov and Zach Werenski scored the other goals for Columbus, including Werenski tying it 2-2 on a power play with 16 seconds left in the second.
Josh Doan, Ryan McLeod and former Blue Jackets forward Josh Dunne scored for the Sabres, who overcame an early 1-0 deficit after Chinakhov’s goal 6:09 into the game. Chinakhov scored a goal for the second straight game and assisted on Wood’s first goal for a two-point night.
Columbus dominated the first period but only led 1-0 at the first intermission after outshooting the Sabres 14-9 and controlling play for most of the 20 minutes. The Jackets’ inability to score more than once in that period kept the Sabres close and allowed them to take control of the game in the second.
Doan and McLeod scored 2:33 apart in the middle period to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead. After Werenski’s tying goal to close the second, Dunne opened the third with his first NHL goal to Buffalo a 3-2 lead over his former team. That’s when the Blue Jackets’ fourth line of Wood, Chinakhov and Isac Lundestrom rose to the occasion.
After Wood’s first goal as a Blue Jacket tied it 3-3 with 6:05 left in regulation, tipping a shot from Chinakhov past Lyons, the speedy right wing ended it in OT by deflecting Werenski’s pass to the front of the net over Lyons and under the crossbar.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Miles Wood’s two goals lead Columbus Blue Jackets to 4-3 overtime win over Buffalo Sabres
Reporting by Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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