Game Preview: Blue Jackets Head To Buffalo To Battle The Sabres — And An Old Friend

BUFFALO SABRES
13-16-3 (29 pts; .453%) ROSTER SCHEDULE
7:00 P.M. – TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19 KEYBANK CENTER  BUFFALO, NY
TELEVISION: Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ Power Play
ODDS & LINE:
ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: 40%
TIPICO SPORTSBOOK: CBJ +150

As they travel to Buffalo for a Tuesday night match-up against the Sabres, the Columbus Blue Jackets find themselves in the midst of a couple of quirky runs.

The first is a 12-game streak of picking up at least a point in every other game. Dating back to Black Friday, the Blue Jackets haven't had two consecutive regulation losses — or two consecutive games with at least one point. After Saturday's 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils, Columbus will need at least a point (and preferably two) when they battle the Sabres.

The other run is one that will continue for a while, and it's another streak that dates back to just after Thanksgiving: Columbus has not played consecutive road games since November 24th (Black Friday) and 26th, and Tuesday's one-game roadie in Buffalo will continue that odd bit of scheduling. In fact, a multi-game road trip is over a month away for the Blue Jackets: it will be January 23rd before Columbus sees more than one game away from Nationwide Arena.

Here's what else to know as Columbus faces Buffalo from the KeyBank Center:

TALKING POINTS: BUF

• Tuesday's game is Columbus' first against Eric Robinson, who played 266 games with the Blue Jackets over seven seasons. The speedy winger is six games into his career as a Sabre, with one goal and two assists in that time. Columbus traded Robinson to Buffalo for a conditional draft pick earlier this month. 
   
• The Sabres are returning home after three games out west that saw mixed results: they soundly defeated the defending-champion Golden Knights in Vegas (just Vegas' third regulation loss of the season at home) by a score of 5-2, but were soundly defeated themselves by the Colorado Avalanche (5-1) and shutout by the Arizona Coyotes (2-0). 
   
• After improving in the last few seasons, there was some expectation for Buffalo to compete for a playoff spot in 2023-24 — but that has not been the case so far. They are five points out of a potential wild card spot and in 7th in the Atlantic Division. One bright spot, though? The play of 22-year-old John-Jason Peterka. He had 12 goals in 77 games last season as a rookie and has equaled that total this season in just 32 games. In addition to being tied for the team lead in goals, the second-round draft pick has 22 points for Buffalo and is tied for third on the team in points. 

TALKING POINTS: CBJ

• Daniil Tarasov made his first start of the season for the Blue Jackets in Saturday's loss, and while allowing five goals on 29 shots is never ideal, it was his first NHL action since March and Columbus' defense didn't do him any favors. With several goalies now in the mix, the coming weeks and months should provide an answer of who the Blue Jackets see as their top guy moving forward. 
   
• Adam Fantilli was moved to the fourth line in the third period of Saturday's loss, with head coach Pascal Vincent saying "Fantilli was fighting it (Saturday). He was fighting the puck. Things weren't going like he'd be used to." That's fine, but the other train of thought is to let him learn how to handle those situations.
   
• Checking in on the Russian line: the trio of Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov, and Yegor Chinakhov are now at five goals for and one goal against in 83 minutes of 5-on-5 play this season. In a season full of line changes, this is becoming the line for the Blue Jackets. Watching them develop the next five months will be exciting.

Updated: 7:05 a.m. // Subject to Change
Lines based on most recent practice/game, injury updates, and club news.