When Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray drafted Jack Eichel on June 26th and moments later swung a trade for Ryan O’Reilly, surely he envisioned games when the pair would be the best players on the ice.

Against the Columbus Blue Jackets, ironically on Columbus Day, that was positively the case.

O’Reilly had a goal and an assist, Eichel scored a goal that may be replayed for the duration of his career and together they were the undisputed best at playing hockey at the First Niagara Center as the Sabres earned their first win of the season, 4-2 over the Blue Jackets.

Special teams units were on full display as the Sabres scored three times in seven chances with the man advantage, while Columbus converted two of their three chances.

With the victory Buffalo avoided losing their first three games to start the season for a third consecutive year.

Onto the recap…

Play of the Game: Less than two minutes after Columbus scored to cut a two-goal deficit in half, Eichel had possession in the Columbus zone but lost the puck to Boone Jenner.  Before the Jackets had a chance to break out, Eichel stole the puck back from Jenner, used his speed and vision skating down the left side and fired a ridiculously accurate shot to beat Sergei Bobrovsky.  It proved to be the game-winner. (Video: NHL.com)

Stat of the Game: Columbus forward Nick Foligno took three penalties, and two of them resulted in Buffalo power play goals. His brother Marcus took one for Buffalo and it resulted in a Blue Jackets goal.

 Three Things To Like:

♦ Buffalo’s top two forward lines.

♦ Risto Ristolainen scored Buffalo’s first goal, had a team-high 23:59 of ice time and looked the part of the team’s most valuable defensemen.

♦ Cody Franson had six shots on net and had by far his best game since joining the team.

Three Things To Not Like:  

♦ The penalty kill unit gave up two goals in just three Columbus chances.

♦ 14 Buffalo giveaways to just five is too much of a discrepancy.

♦ It was another slow start for the Sabres. They’ve yet to score in the first period in 60 minutes this season.

MVP: I can’t overthink this.  O’Reilly had himself the kind of day that gets you $52.5 million over seven years, but Eichel’s highlight reel goal to squash Columbus’ momentum was huge.  Earlier in the game Eichel threaded a perfect pass to a charging Evander Kane that nearly resulted in a goal and honestly, he could’ve easily had a three or four point afternoon. He’s not without flaws after just three games, but the kid is playing like an electrifying veteran already. Honorable mention to Matt Moulson; who scored and added two assists.

 LVP: He didn’t necessarily play bad overall, but poor puck recognition by Sabres defensemen Josh Gorges in front of the net played a big role in both Columbus (power play) goals.

Random Observation: If wasn’t already noticeable, it appears that a Chris Brown narrated “Bills Report” will be on each Sabres MSG telecast. Go Bills.

 Wrap-Up: The Sabres are sure to experience growing pains this year, but afternoon’s like this make it clear why so many are excited about this team.  Eichel and O’Reilly were studs, which they’ll need to be if this team is going to rack up enough points to even sniff contending for a playoff spot in the winter months.  Moulson, Evander Kane and Tyler Ennis had strong games as well.  I’ll tell you this much---the difference between Buffalo’s top six forwards this season from last is impossible to describe if you’ve yet to catch a game this season.  There’s things to criticize for sure, but let’s just enjoy the first victory of this new era—the Eichel Era of Sabres hockey.

Up Next: Buffalo is off until visiting the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

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