Columbus @ Buffalo preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 7, 2019 ) Buffalo 3, Columbus 4

The Columbus Blue Jackets were the hottest team in hockey entering the All-Star break and will be hoping that an extended layoff will not stall their momentum in their bid to reach the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Riding a season-high six-game winning streak, Columbus opens a two-game road trip at the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon.

With their lineup riddled by injuries, the Blue Jackets were scraping to stay out of the basement in mid-December before going on a 15-2-2 tear to ascend to the top wild card entering the break. "They are hockey players. They love being on the ice together," coach John Tortorella said at Friday's practice. "I felt that yesterday. I felt it even more today." The Sabres desperately needed a fast start coming out of the All-Star break but opened a five-game homestand to struggling Atlantic Division rivals Ottawa and Montreal. "Are the results the way we want them? No," coach Ralph Krueger said. "And do fans deserve to boo us after games like Ottawa and Montreal? Yes. Do we need to take that? Yes, and it should fuel us to continue to work in the right direction."

TIME: 1 p.m. ET. TV: MSG-Buffalo, FS Ohio

ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (27-16-8): Elvis Merzlikins notched three shutouts in his last five starts but fellow rookie Matiss Kivlenieks, who won his NHL debut in a 2-1 victory at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 19, could get the nod Saturday. Oliver Bjorkstrand returned from a 13-game injury absence to score two goals apiece in each of the past two wins. "When you feel it, you just feel it," said Bjorkstrand, who has three straight two-goal games to give him a team-high 16. "It's definitely something you try to hold on to."

ABOUT THE SABRES (22-22-7): Captain Jack Eichel added to his career-best total by scoring his 30th goal to join Boston's David Pastrnak and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon as the only players with at least 30 tallies and 30 assists. Also the first Buffalo player to reach 30 goals in the first 50 games since 1992-93, Eichel has scored three times to go with nine assists in 13 games against Columbus. Carter Hutton turned aside 27 of 29 shots in his second start since Dec. 19 to extend his winless drought to 12 games (0-8-4).

OVERTIME

1. Bjorkstrand has nine goals over his last six games and scored in a 4-3 OT win over Buffalo on Oct. 7.

2. Sabres F Kyle Okposo will miss Saturday's contest due to an upper-body injury sustained in Thursday's loss.

3. Blue Jackets C Pierre-Luc Dubois has 10 points over his last nine games.

PREDICTION: Blue Jackets 4, Sabres 3