‘We were menaces’: How the Sabres maintained their defensive composure in a 2-1 win against Columbus
The Buffalo Sabres played solid defense in the final five minutes of a 2-1 win against Columbus on Tuesday in a preseason game at KeyBank Center.
Lindy Ruff wanted his team to face this kind of situation, even this early in the preseason.
The Buffalo Sabres held a one-goal lead with five minutes left in a 2-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday at KeyBank Center. Then, Konsta Helenius took a penalty for hooking with 4:40 left in regulation.
Ruff, the Sabres’ coach, and his team knew they had a choice, even this early in the preseason: They could assert themselves in defending a one-goal lead, or they could hang loose and hope the Blue Jackets wouldn’t tie the game.
Even in the preseason, the choices matter.
Buffalo Sabres center Konsta Helenius (94) congratulates Jason Zucker (17) on his goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the third period at
KeyBank Center on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. Harry Scull/Buffalo News
Jason Zucker saw his team’s response. He definitely didn’t hate it.
“I liked the aggressiveness,” Zucker said. “Last year, we had a tendency of sitting back a little bit and just trying to not let them score, which seems like the right thing to do but at the same time, you’ve got to stay aggressive. If you just sit back and let them come in, in waves, at you, it’s going to be tough do defend.
“We did a better job of staying aggressive, getting pucks out, making them have dirty pucks along the boards and getting them out of our zone.”
Zucker’s goal less than 12 minutes into the third period became the game’s go-ahead tally, and Alex Lyon and Devon Levi combined for 18 saves to help the Sabres to their second preseason win in as many nights.
The defense in front of Levi, who played the third period, proved critical in the final five minutes. Columbus put two of its five third-period shots on goal in the final five minutes and began their last power play by winning a faceoff. The Sabres, though, didn’t allow the Blue Jackets a shot on Levi on that power play.
“Seventy-eight percent of the games last year were one-goal or two-goal games, that are decided with an empty net,” Ruff said. “I’d rather have, tonight, been in a close game, which we were in. You battle harder. One mistake costs you. We didn’t get frustrated.”
Zach Benson’s feed from behind the Columbus goal set up Tage Thompson, who tied the game at 1-1 with 2:06 left in the second. But Benson saw something else out of his team in how they handled the final five minutes of the game – particularly as they killed the penalty against Helenius. Benson saw how his team clogged the zone and didn’t allow the Blue Jackets to make clean entrances.
“Defensively, we were menaces,” Benson said. “We made it hard, really hard on them and a big kill at the end, and you’re going to need a lot of those down the road.”
Ruff wasn’t a fan of Helenius’ penalty. Helenius’ stick should have been on the ice, not tangled with an opponent.
“That is stuff we’ve spent a lot of time talking about, and it’s stuff that we need to make sure the details of not taking those types of penalties,” Ruff said.
Ruff liked Helenius’ response in the final two mintues after he came out of the penalty box. Helenius played in a late 5-on-6 situation after the Blue Jackets pulled goalie Zach Sawchenko and put a late hit on Columbus defenseman Daemon Hunt.
Like Zucker, Ruff also liked his team’s response.
“Just because of where the numbers are at in this league and how many close games you’ll be in, and how important points are, whether it’s one point or getting the extra point. To end up preserving a 2-1 game, you look at it, at least you’re getting one, for sure, if the other team scores, but when you’re on five-on-six and you do the job, you’re gonna get two points.”
The preseason doesn’t award points. But it provides a blueprint for when the regular season begins, and for down the road, when points can come at a premium.
It goes back to Zucker’s point about being aggressive in close situations like the final five minutes against the Blue Jackets.
The next step for the Sabres, who play their third exhibition game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Detroit, is to cultivate that and make it a consistent effort, the ability to defend close leads.
“Hopefully, you keep putting yourselves in those positions, so you keep learning it, keep practicing it,” Zucker said.