Blue Jackets score 6 in victory against Sabres

COLUMBUS -- Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 6-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

Yegor Chinakhov and Adam Fantilli also scored, and Zach Werenski and Jake Christiansen each had two assists for the Blue Jackets (2-2-0). Daniil Tarasov made 20 saves.

Columbus forward Cole Sillinger said the influence of the late Johnny Gaudreau is still felt.

Gaudreau, 31, and his brother, Matthew, 29, died Aug. 29 when they were struck by an alleged drunk driver, who has been charged with two counts of death by auto, while riding bicycles near their home in Salem County, New Jersey.

“This is our work,” Sillinger said, “If you're not having fun when you're coming to the rink, and battling with your teammates and brothers, what's the point? That's the kind of the mentality switch [this year], is realizing that there's more to life.

“[Johnny] taught a lot of us that. We just try to play like we’re having fun, play loose, but not tight-minded.”

Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored, and Jiri Kulich scored his first NHL goal for the Sabres (1-4-1), who were coming off a 6-5 overtime loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. Devon Levi made 19 saves.

“Rough night by our D,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “Some of the puck play, probably four goals.”

Chinakhov gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 5:12 of the first period with a power-play goal from the left circle.

Marchenko made it 2-0 at 19:28, scoring unassisted with a snap shot from the left face-off dot.

“We have a great start tonight, and we have a good structure in this (offensive) zone. We played fast,” Marchenko said. “If we don't cheat the game offensively, we have a lot of moments for scoring.”

“It wasn’t the best period. We were pretty slow to the puck,” Kulich said. “We lost almost every puck battle, so we had to change something, but it was too late.”

Ryan McLeod cut it to 2-1 at 9:34 of the second period on the rush.

Fantilli extended it to 3-1 at 12:18 with a shot from low in the right circle that went off Levi.

Kulich made it 3-2 at 17:29, tipping a shot by Dylan Cozens. The 20-year-old forward was a first-round pick (No. 28) in the 2022 NHL Draft.

“It feels nice to score your first NHL goal,” Kulich said. “For me, a dream come true, but a tough loss.”

Olivier made it 4-2 at 17:58, skating in from the right circle on the rush and beating Levi blocker side, before Power cut it to 4-3 at 19:35.

Zach Aston-Reese scored just 15 seconds into the third period to make it 5-3. He redirected a shot from the left point by Christiansen.

“That’s a tough one because we built a lot of momentum at the end of the second period. We won the period,” Ruff said.

Damon Severson pushed it to 6-3 at 8:10, coming down the slot to take a feed from Marchenko.

“We challenged them in between the second period to do those things, the right things,” Columbus coach Dean Evanson said. “We scored two goals, because we were doing the right thing. We were on the right side.”

With Levi pulled for the extra skater, Peterka made it 6-4 at 17:51 on a rebound from the right circle.

NOTES: Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson left with an upper-body injury 52 seconds into the second period after falling over teammate James van Riemsdyk, who had been tripped. There was no update. … Chinakhov (two goals, four assists) and Johnson (two goals, three assists) each extended his point streak to four games. … Tage Thompson assisted the final Buffalo goal to extend his point streak to three games (two goals, one assist). … Columbus forward Justin Danforth made his season debut after undergoing wrist surgery in July. He had two shots on goal and a blocked shot in 16:38 of ice time.