Thursday, April 9, 2026 – 7:00 PM ET
KeyBank Center – Buffalo, New York
TV: FDSNOH; Radio: 97.1 FM
Columbus Blue Jackets (39-27-12, 90 points, 4th Metro, 9th East)
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Buffalo Sabres (48-23-8, 104 points, 1st Atlantic, 2nd East)
After 14 long seasons of waiting, the Sabres are finally back in the playoffs. Not only that, they also still have a shot to win their division and possibly the top seed in the East. Wow!
To give a sense of how long their drought was, let’s go back to the season finale of 2011, when the Sabres visited Nationwide Arena to play what was then a Western Conference opponent. (Box score here) Steve Mason was in net, Scott Arniel was wrapping up his first season behind the bench, and the Columbus goal scorers were Derek Dorsett, Jared Boll, and Kristian Huselius.
The Sabres’ season took off around the time in December where GM Kevyn Adams was fired and replaced by former CBJ GM Jarmo Kekalainen. Obviously this roster was mostly built by Adams, but it’s clear there was a vibe shift that came with that change at the top.
So, how do we feel about this? Honestly, I’m happy for long-suffering Buffalo fans, and I’m glad that Jarmo has gotten a second chance in this league. While his time here ended poorly and he absolutely deserved to be fired when he was, I think he also deserves credit for building some teams here in Columbus that took the franchise to new heights.
Alright, now it’s scoreboard time:
Leafs at Islanders (Go Leafs)
Panthers at Senators (Go Cats, though they haven’t helped us AT ALL over the last weeks)
Flyers at Red Wings (no loser points, please)
The Flyers have Metro 3 and the Senators have Wild Card 2. Each have 92 points. The Jackets are right behind at 90 points. The Islanders and Wings are a point back at 89. All five of these teams have four games remaining. (The Capitals are also at 89 points, but with an extra game played)