Ready or not, here we go. The first preseason game took place in Buffalo, and the 2024-25 season is (almost) underway. The Jackets’ preseason debut didn’t go great, so it’s a good thing the result doesn’t matter.
Weird things from this game: Fantilli wearing #19, Jack Johnson wearing a Blue Jackets jersey again, and Jordan Harris wearing #22 (“Hey, I thought we got rid of Jake Bean,”).
1st Period
The Blue Jackets did not have a great start. Ceulemans went off for high-sticking, and shortly after, Fantilli committed a delay of game penalty, making it a 5-on-3 for Buffalo. Owen Power scored the power play goal to make it 1-0.
BUF PP Goal 1-0: Power (Peterka, Quinn) 5:35
It was all Buffalo to start, but the Jackets started crawling back at the halfway point. Olivier tied the game after carrying the puck to the net and then sweeping home his rebound.
CBJ Goal 1-1: Olivier (unassisted) 11:34
The first power play of the season came after a high-sticking penalty, and the first unit featured Sillinger, Gambrell, Jiricek, Fantilli, and Voronkov. Fantilli let off an open shot from the point, but that was all the first unit managed.
The second unit was TFW, McKown, LDBB, Pyyhtia, and Svozil. They had more success, but the game remained tied.
Charlie Elick lined up a huge, clean hit in open ice. I’m sure that earned a few brownie points.
Both the Fantili and Sillinger lines were noticeable in the first period. Voronkov and Olivier were strong on the puck, getting it in deep and on net. JMFJ and Ceulemans looked good as a pair.
2nd Period
Fantilli got a little fancy and failed to carry the puck out of the zone, resulting in a prolonged Buffalo possession. A scramble in front of the net led to another Sabres goal.
BUF Goal 2-1: Benson (Jokiharju, Quinn) 5:15
A Peddle interference call led to another Buffalo power play. This time, the good guys were able to kill it off. Hopefully, last year’s habit of committing a penalty right after a goal against doesn’t carry into the regular season.
The Jackets got another power play opportunity after a Buffalo roughing penalty. McKown missed a great chance after a nice pass from Fantilli. Unfortunately, McKown couldn’t get the backhand past Levi. It was a better effort, but no dice.
The Sabres caught the Jackets sleeping before making it 3-1. A nice stretch pass found Krebs all alone, and he sniped the puck past Greaves.
BUF Goal 3-1: Krebs (Thompson, Gilbert) 10:40
The rest of the period was a snooze fest.
3rd Period
Cozens made it 4-1 off a nice pass into the slot. He streaked in all alone and gave the new goaltender Gardner no chance at the save.
BUF Goal 4-1: Cozens (Benson, Byram) 2:34
TFW missed a completely wide-open net off a rebound. He can’t be missing those types of shots if he wants to play in the NHL.
Off a faceoff, Samuelsson put a sharp-angle shot in on Gardner and found the open space between the goaltender and the post. That’s a good learning opportunity for the Junior goalie. NHL players will find those holes.
BUF Goal 5-1: Samuelsson (Peterka, Krebs) 5:23
Gardner got beat again when Aube-Kubel came streaking across the slot all alone. Lafferty found him with a quick pass, and Aube-Kubel showed an excellent finish.
BUF Goal 6-1: Aube-Kubel (Lafferty, Byram) 7:00
Mercifully, the game finally ended.
Final Thoughts
The result of this game was not ideal, but luckily, it doesn’t matter. The Jackets looked disjointed and unorganized, but that was probably the result of a roster mainly consisting of prospects.
I’ll start with some of the negatives. First, Greaves wasn’t bad, but he didn’t do himself any favors. Second, I would have liked Fantilli to stand out more than he did. He had a couple of moments but was quiet for long stretches. Lastly, the Johnson-Ceulemans pair that looked good early on ended up with four even-strength goals against. Weirdly enough, Ceulemans had a positive Corsi at the same time.
There were a few positives. McKown and Olivier were the most impressive forwards, in my view. Voronkov also stood out. On defense, Svozil was easily the best defenseman.
Up Next
The preseason home debut is on Wednesday against the Blues. The puck drops at the usual time of 7:00 PM ET.