The Columbus Blue Jackets continue to their homestand with this evening’s matchup against the Buffalo Sabres. This is their first meeting of the regular season. Columbus and Buffalo faced off in the rookie tournament and twice in the preseason.

The Blue Jackets have announced a bunch of roster changes in the last 24 hours.

F Dylan Gambrell has been placed on waivers for the purpose of player assignment. If cleared, he will report to Cleveland (AHL).

D Erik Gudbranson has been placed on the IR with an upper body injury. One of the spare defenders will be sliding in tonight, and may rotate.

G Elvis Merzlikins is also expected to miss time with an upper body injury.

G Jet Greaves has been recalled from Cleveland to back up G Daniil Tarasov.

F Justin Danforth is expected to make his 2024-2025 regular season debut from wrist surgery. He is expected to slide into the third line, while KJ is moving to Labanc’s slot.

F Kevin Labanc and D David Jiricek are expected to be the healthy scratches.

D Jack Johnson will slide in for Gudbranson tonight and will pair with D Jordan Harris, who made his Blue Jackets’ debut on Tuesday.

G Daniil Tarasov will get the go as the starter tonight.

Preview

After a rough start in Czechia, the Sabres are 1-1-1 since returning to the States. There has also been some controversy around the team after the practice fight between newly promoted captain D Rasmus Dahlin and F Peyton Krebs.

The Sabres are hungry for a playoff appearance. Their last time in the postseason was 2010-11. They think they have what it takes to make it this season.

Keys to Victory

1. Crash the Net — this is a young goalie battle between the Sabres and Blue Jackets. Crashing the net and redirecting goals worked for Columbus late on Tuesday against Florida.

2. Pucks in Deep — the young legs on Buffalo’s defensive group will need the puck in their zone and to skate the 200 feet of the ice to help create the offense this team needs.

3. Get the Matchups — This is the second game of four on home ice. Evason has to get the correct matchups on the sheet to get his club the best chance to score. The kids in Ohio are hungry, and there is room for them to grow.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

JJ Peterka -- Tage Thompson -- Alex Tuch
Zach Benson -- Dylan Cozens -- Jack Quinn
Jason Zucker -- Ryan McLeod -- Jordan Greenway
Beck Malenstyn -- Peyton Krebs -- Sam Lafferty

Rasmus Dahlin -- Henri Jokiharju
Bowen Byram -- Owen Power
Mattias Samuelsson -- Connor Clifton

Devon Levi
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Scratched: Jacob Bryson, Dennis Gilbert, Jiri Kulich

Injured: Nicolas Aube-Kubel (lower body)

Columbus Blue Jackets

Yegor Chinakhov -- Sean Monahan -- Kirill Marchenko
James van Riemsdyk -- Adam Fantilli -- Kent Johnson
Mikael Pyyhtia -- Cole Sillinger -- Justin Danforth
Zach Aston-Reese -- Sean Kuraly -- Mathieu Olivier

Zach Werenski -- Ivan Provorov
Jake Christiansen -- Damon Severson
Jordan Harris -- Jack Johnson

Daniil Tarasov
Jet Greaves

Scratched: David Jiricek, Kevin Labanc

Injured: Dmitri Voronkov (upper body), Boone Jenner (shoulder), Gavin Brindley (finger), Erik Gudbranson (upper body), Elvis Merzlikins (upper body), Max McCue, Jordan Dumais

Players to Watch

Buffalo — Rasmus Dahlin — the new captain and face of the Buffalo Sabres. Has his rich $11.5M contract extension. The top d-man will be eating minutes for the Sabres and under new coach Lindy Ruff all season.

Columbus — Justin Danforth — the return for Laine is expected to make his Blue Jackets’ debut tonight. After an injury crushed 2023-24 campaign, he will have minutes as a depth scorer.

Predicted Final Score

CBJ : 2

BUF : 3

Obituaries

https://www.danjolell.com/obituary/john-michael-gaudreau/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYM9fikwQbNkPlcwmTBaP2udJZw1oMBCmyXjp-GyttBpDhIoWnqY8lxQSQ_aem_zW3gpaArqsSO7D5ZI-Pdog

https://www.danjolell.com/obituary/matthew-ryan-gaudreau/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZ33XNOJYMaSDfXxs3NcH7AY99EWfo9ObneKgMrpds4HwrC3U6Gkj0igr0_aem_qqWUcGWcBFf0sebC0an4RQ

Want to support the Gaudreau family? Here’s several ways how:


https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-madeline-and-baby-tripp-after-tragedy - Donate to Gaudreau Family Fund. At the time of writing it is at $691K

https://youtu.be/7ax8zyd8nk0?si=xoI63iohdyn2vVvD - View Johnny B Goode Tribute - personal touch. Loved this slowed down clip by the voice of Calgary. Skip to the 25 second mark.


https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/giving - Nationwide Children's Hospital (Johnny's widow, Meredith's workplace) support the children today.

https://foundation.ohiohealth.com/ - Ohio Health Foundation (where donations from a joint mental health charity drive from Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine went) Johnny joined the mission after Laine attended the NHLPA assistance club last season

https://www.childrenshospital.ab.ca/ways-to-help/donate/ - Alberta Children's Hospital for those in need and touched by the loss

https://kidsportcanada.ca/donate/ - Donate to the Youth Sporting Charity in Canada (Johnny Gaudreau donated for money each goal he scored to the Calgary chapter)

https://sniderhockey.org/support-snider/ - the Philadelphia Youth Hockey Charity (where Johnny and Matthew are from and started their youth hockey)

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