The Columbus Blue Jackets jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Buffalo and never looked back. The Sabres pulled to within a goal after two periods, but the Jackets scored twice in the third to pull away for good. The Bue Jackets beat the Sabres 6-4.
The Columbus Blue Jackets Outlook and Success
Last night, Kirill Marchenko, Cole Sillinger, and Damon Severson spoke to the media postgame. HC Dean Evason also gave his thoughts on the game.
Kirill Marchenko - One goal, One assist, three shots, 19:58 Ice Time.
Cole Sillinger - One assist, 16:05 Ice Time
- If you're not having fun when you're coming to the rink, and battling with your teammates and brothers, what's the point right?
- There's more to life, the guy behind me (Gaudreau) has taught a lot of us that.
- We just try to play like we're having fun.
- On Kent Johnson's Injury - Obviously, the way he was playing, and everything like that, you never wanna see that. I think with KJ, he deals with adversity very well. He's got a smile on his face and trying to think of the positive outcomes. He doesn't deserve that with what he went through last year.
- On being pulled from the game by the NHL - It was more of a protocol-type thing that the NHL does. You respect it. I felt good, felt like I was ready to get back out there. I felt great.
- On the injury situation - It's not ideal, but what are you going to do? Feel sorry for yourself? No one else feels sorry for us right? Everyone wants to play and compete. So, it's an opportunity for guys to step up. We can't hang our heads.
Damon Severson - One goal, Plus-4 rating, 21:39 Ice Time.
- The neutral zone game was huge.
- Marchy had a goal earlier, so maybe he was looking for an assist there. (as he laughs)
- We definitely want to get up in the play. We need to play defense though.
- We're just trying to be aggressive and use that to our benefit.
- We're pressuring a lot more. We have guys that can pressure and skate.
- Just stick with it.
Head Coach Dean Evason
- On the offensive explosion so far - If we play the right way, yeah we can score.
- The two goals we gave them, it's because we played on the wrong side.
- You have to be in the proper position to not play bad defensively.
- We scored two goals because we were doing the right thing.
- If you get to this level, you can freakin' score goals.
- You can't cheat the game, this league is too good.
- We can't give up what we gave up in the second period.
- On The First Line And What He Likes About It - Everything! Because they're not only creating offensively. Tonight we played them against Thompson's line for the most part, which is a tough challenge. And they're doing the right things defensively.
- Monny is such a well-rounded hockey player. We could stick anybody with him and they'd be fine.
- On Johnson's Injury - It's just a freak thing, right? Taken out by our own player. It didn't look good, but we'll get the evaluation tomorrow.
- On Severson's Goal - Were not stifling anybody. It's fun to score goals, but it can't be at the expense of the team. Sevi, he had a couple of errors last game. Played solid (Tuesday).
- Our group has stayed very focused. They've helped each other and will continue to help each other throughout the year.
- Provorov has been fantastic playing the right side.
- Through four games - The group is really tight and that will help us moving forward.
What's Next - Columbus is back home on Saturday to finish the season series with the Minnesota Wild.
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