|
 Atkinson broke a 2-2 tie at 10:35 of the third period, helping the
Blue Jackets to a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres before 17,855 in
Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets earned their sixth consecutive home win in their
2014-15 home finale and continued a torrid stretch of play at
season's end.
"This is fun," Atkinson said. "This is how it's supposed to be, and
the fans should get to go out on a good note."
But the Sabres may have won for losing.
The loss secured Buffalo's place at the bottom of the NHL standings,
and guaranteed them the No. 1 or No. 2 overall pick at the draft in
June.
The top two players available -- Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel --
are considered "generational" talents.
"I don't care what place you finish in, if you don't compete you
don't get better," Sabres coach Ted Nolan said. "Most of our guys
are doing that, giving us what they've got.
"We've got a couple who aren't, and that's a problem."
The Blue Jackets also got goals from left winger Nick Foligno, left
winger Matt Calvert and left winger Boone Jenner, whose empty-net
goal with 10 seconds remaining capped the scoring.
Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had 23 saves for his 30th
win.
The victory extended the Blue Jackets' point streak to 12 games
(11-0-1), matching a franchise record.
The Jackets haven't lost in regulation since March 15, which was
also their last home defeat.
"We sure didn't feel like we were doing right by our fans in the
early part of the season," Foligno said, "so to put a few wins like
this together at the end, maybe it gets us off the hook a little
bit.
Maybe it sends us and our fans into the offseason feeling a little
better about this team."
The Sabres got goals from center Mikhail Grigorenko and right winger
Brian Gionta, while goaltender Anders Lindback had 32 saves.
The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead only 14 seconds into the game, the
earliest in a game they scored all season.
Foligno entered the attack zone with plenty of speed, and he ripped
a one-timer off a feed from center Brandon Dubinsky that beat
Lindback.
The Sabres answered, however, barely two minutes later.
Grigorenko's slap shot off the rush -- Gionta set him up with a
nifty drop pass -- made it 1-1 at 2:25.
[to top of second column] |
The Blue Jackets took a 2-1 lead at 9:35 of the second when Calvert
buried a wrister from the left circle.
It marked the fourth straight game in which the Jackets' fourth line
scored.
The Sabres pulled even again, this time on the power play with 59
seconds remaining in the second when Gionta scored.
The game drifted into the third tied at 2, but Atkinson settled
matters with an east put-back.
Lindback made the initial save on a slap shot by defenseman Dalton
Prout, but the puck kicked off his left pad and shot right to
Atkinson.
When Atkinson scored, fans wearing both Blue Jackets' and Sabres'
sweaters jumped out of their seats.
Jenner capped the scoring when he followed Calvert's long-range miss
with an easy shot.
The Sabres suffered their 50th loss of the season, a franchise
record.
But sunny days are forecasted.
"It's been frustrating," right winger Brian Gionta said. "Where we
sit is not where we want to be. But you can't look back, you have to
look ahead."
NOTES: Blue Jackets D Fedor Tyutin returned to the lineup after
missing two games with a cut atop his left foot, suffered during a
game vs. Pittsburgh on April 4. ... Another nasty cut: As the Blue
Jackets were rushing off the bench to celebrate a 5-0 win over
Toronto on Wednesday, rookie RW Alexander Wennberg's right skate
slit the left wrist of RW Cam Atkinson, a cut that took 10 stitches
to close. ... The Sabres recalled D Chad Ruhwadel from minor league
Rochester after D Andre Benoit (upper body) was injured.
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