Blue Jackets and Sabres meet for 2026 season opener

The Columbus Blue Jackets host the Buffalo Sabres for the season opener

By
The Associated Press
September 30, 2026, 4:11 AM ET
1 min read

Buffalo Sabres vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus, Ohio; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

LINE: Blue Jackets -116, Sabres -107; over/under is 6.5

BOTTOM LINE: The Columbus Blue Jackets host the Buffalo Sabres for the season opener.

Columbus had a 40-30-12 record overall and a 20-13-8 record in home games last season. The Blue Jackets scored 38 power-play goals last season on 200 total chances (2.4 chances per game).

Buffalo had a 50-23-9 record overall and a 29-14-4 record in road games last season. The Sabres had a 19.5% power play success rate last season, scoring 48 goals on 246 chances.

INJURIES: Blue Jackets: Dante Fabbro: out (upper-body), Mikael Pyyhtia: out (lower body), Isac Lundestrom: out (achilles).

Sabres: Mattias Samuelsson: out (lower-body), Conor Timmins: out (lower-body), Jason Zucker: out (abdomen), Justin Danforth: out for season (kneecap), Topias Leinonen: out (lower-body), Olen Zellweger: day to day (concussion).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.