Buffalo Sabres at Columbus Blue Jackets
· National Hockey League
Blue Jackets and Sabres meet for 2026 season opener
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).
Regular Season Series
Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|
Buffalo Sabres Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Olen Zellweger, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 1 |
| Conor Timmins, D | Injured Reserve | Sep 29 |
| Alex Lyon, G | Day-To-Day | Sep 29 |
| Mattias Samuelsson, D | Injured Reserve | Sep 29 |
| Topias Leinonen, G | Injured Reserve | Sep 28 |
Game Information
Nationwide Arena
Location: Columbus, OH
Capacity:
Location: Columbus, OH
Capacity:
2026-27 Metropolitan Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pittsburgh |
0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
 Carolina |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
 Washington |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 New Jersey |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Columbus |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 NY Islanders |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 NY Rangers |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
 Philadelphia |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |