BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Alex Tuch had two goals and an assist, Dennis Gilbert asserted his home team’s toughness, backup goaltender James Reimer stepped in to make 27 saves, and the Sabres closed out a victorious four-game homestand with a redemptive 3-2 win against the Columbus BlueJackets on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center.
The four-game win streak is Buffalo’s best since a five-game run in January 2023. Four times this season, the Sabres lost following three consecutive wins.
Jason Zucker tallied two assists, and Rasmus Dahlin got his 40th point of the season when Tuch tipped the captain’s shot from the point for a 3-1 lead with 1:04 left in the second period. Gilbert assisted on Tuch’s tiebreaking goal and the Buffalonian set the tone for the night when he fought Columbus enforcer Mathieu Olivier at the drop of the puck in a delayed response to New Jersey’s Stefan Noesen elbowing Tage Thompson in the head during Sunday’s 4-3 victory.
Thompson was scratched Tuesday and is day-to-day, coach Lindy Ruff said. Mattias Samuelsson, one of the players on the ice who did not respond to hit on Thompson, was placed on reserve with a lower-body injury. Isak Rosen was called up from Rochester to fill Thompson’s spot on the top line.
Still at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with a 22-26-5 record, the Sabres remain 11 games out of a playoff spot. But in scoring 18 goals over the past four games, they improved to 13-11-3 on home ice this season. Before this streak, the Sabres were the only team in the East with a losing record in their own barn.
Buffalo plays at Nashville on Saturday before getting two weeks off for the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off. The next home game is Feb. 22 against the New York Rangers.
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.