Tuesday, February 4, 2025 – 7:00 PM EST
KeyBank Center – Buffalo, New York
TV: FDSNOH; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Site: Die By The Blade
Columbus Blue Jackets (26-20-7, 59 points, 4th Metro, 8th East)
at
Buffalo Sabres (21-26-5, 47 points, 8th Atlantic, 16th East)
I won’t say this is a “must-win” game because it’s clearly not. However, with the injuries piling up, playing the worst team in the East comes at an ideal time. These next three games before the break have become very important, and losing four in a row would likely mean chasing a playoff spot when games resume. So, the message is simple: go out and win this game.
Player to Watch
Tage Thompson
The former 47-goal scorer has been on a burner. He has 5-4-9 in his last five games, including a hat trick against Boston. He already has 26 goals on the season.
Jackets Notes
Marchenko will be out for roughly 4-8 weeks (unofficially) with a broken jaw … Fabbro is out for an undisclosed amount of time with an undisclosed upper-body injury … Chinakhov currently has no timetable for return … Dylan Gambrell has been called up from Cleveland.
Ouch.
The lineup below is a complete guess.
The Other Bench
The Sabres are winners of three in a row against the Devils, Predators, and Bruins.
Season Series
10/17/2024 BUF 4 @ CBJ 6
02/04/2025 CBJ @ BUF
04/10/2025 BUF @ CBJ
Stats
Buffalo | Columbus | |
3.12 (11) | GPG | 3.26 (8) |
3.38 (29) | GAPG | 3.30 (26) |
16.3 (27) | PP% | 21.5 (16) |
78.5 (19) | PK% | 74.7 (26) |
50.3 (15) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 47.4 (28) |
49.8 (20) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 48.0 (25) |
9.2 (9) | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.0 (3) |
90.42 (25) | 5v5 Save % | 90.73 (21) |
Tage Thompson, 26 | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko, 21 🙁 |
Rasmus Dahlin, 33 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 40 |
Tage Thompson, 48 | P Leader | Zach Werenski, 57 |
Jason Zucker, 53 | PIM Leader | Mathieu Olivier, 92 |
12-12-3 | Home/Road | 9-15-4 |
5-5-0 | Last 10 | 6-3-1 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dmitri Voronkov | Adam Fantilli | Kent Johnson |
James van Riemsdyk | Cole Sillinger | Mathieu Olivier |
Zach Aston-Reese | Luca Del Bel Belluz | Mikael Pyyhtia |
Dylan Gambrell | Sean Kuraly | Justin Danforth |
Zach Werenski | Ivan Provorov |
Denton Mateychuk | Damon Severson |
Jake Christiansen | Jack Johnson |
Elvis Merzlikins |
Daniil Tarasov |
Dallas Stars
JJ Peterka | Jiri Kulich | Tage Thompson |
Jason Zucker | Dylan Cozens | Alex Tuch |
Zach Benson | Ryan McLeod | Jack Quinn |
Beck Malenstyn | Peyton Krebs | Dennis Gilbert |
Bowen Byram | Rasmus Dahlin |
Mattias Samuelsson | Owen Power |
Jacob Bryson | Henri Jokiharju |
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen |
James Reimer |