The sweep of the NHL schedule includes the Buffalo Sabres adding to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ early season woes in a 4-2 win Buffalo.
Jack Eichel scored and that may end up not being a surprise this season but how he did it was stunning. 
In a burst of speed Eichel caught up to the puck and Jackets defender to redirect the offense and then sniped a laser past Sergei Bobrovsky for a 3-1 lead in the third period.
“He was a little overcommitted to the short side, so I kind of let it ride and it was good to see it go in,” Eichel said. “Couple other times I’ve tried to let them ride from that side and I’ve snapped my stick. Pretty happy that I got a new stick between periods and it did me well.”
The Sabres won the match 4-2.
“I thought we earned the win,” Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. “I thought we earned it with the way we played. We didn’t give them much. They had to battle for every inch. … I think we gave them a lot to handle.”
Chad Johnson got the win for the Sabres on the strength of 20 saves.
“It was tough last year not being able to come in and play and try to help this team be better,” Johnson said. “It feels good knowing that hard work is showing and getting results. I played well in preseason, just didn’t get results. Last game (a 4-1 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday) too.”
It was another bad loss for the Jackets who are now 0-3-0 to start the season.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” Marcus Foligno said. “It’s unacceptable really. It’s a word one of our guys used in the room between periods. The way we’re playing right now, the second period especially, is just unacceptable. It’s disappointing because we talked before the season what we had to do and we’re not doing it, so I don’t know what the reason is for it.
“I’m disappointed in myself and those three penalties, one was to prevent a goal but the other two are just discipline. It’s all those things and it’s got to start from the top and work its way through and right now it’s not.”
On Monday, the effort was absent with many Blue Jackets players standing around in the defensive zone watching the Sabres skate around.
“Well, for me this one’s concerning, the way we performed,” Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. “Because three games in, playing a desperate team on the road, I was expecting something else than this.
“Right now, I’m just disappointed. The other games, I thought we did some things that you can build off your game. There wasn’t a lot accomplished in tonight’s game.”
And speaking of standing around the Boston Bruins did a lot of just that Monday in their 6-3 drubbing at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Steven Stamkos scored his 500th point in the win.
“Yeah, it’s special. I mean … you really never know how much opportunity or how much longer you’re going to be around in the League,” said Stamkos, who has 500 points in 495 NHL games. “So to get 500 points, obviously [I’m] very fortunate. You think about all the people that helped you along the way get to this point. And to do it in a game where it was a big goal at the time, and in this building where I’ve had some ups and downs. So I guess another positive one in here. It was nice to have it come in a win.”
It was the game-winner for Stamkos whose Bolts rallied from an early 0-2 deficit to tie the game at three all before his goal.
Tuukka Rask had 17 saves in the loss and was left out to dry by his defense most of the game.
“He dropped his shoulder and I kind of, I was too narrow in my stance and then I was late,” Rask said of the Stamkos goal. “So it’s just one of those. You can’t let in that at that point of the game. I made two saves at the start of third and then something like that happens, so you can’t … it deflates the whole atmosphere of the team, so that [stunk].”
Ben Bishop made 27 stops in the Tampa Bay win.
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