Sabres 4, Blue Jackets 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Left winger Jamie McGinn had his first two-goal game of the season, powering the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday in Nationwide Arena.
The goal that will be long remembered, however, came from center David Legwand, who scored the Sabres' second goal from the other end of the rink to cap a strong first period.
Center Sam Reinhart also scored for Buffalo, which was won three of its last four.
Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner finished with 35 saves for his fourth win of the season and just his third shutout in 98 career NHL starts.
He also earned his own highlight during a third-period scrum, when he tried to fight Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson. They were separated by officials.
The Blue Jackets, who had a six-game point streak snapped, were shut out for the third time this season and the first time since Nov. 19.
Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo finished with 27 saves, and he let in one that will not soon be forgotten.
Legwand's goal, his fifth of the season, brought a groan from weary Blue Jackets fans.
From his own zone as the Sabres were killing a penalty, Legwand gathered the puck inside a faceoff circle and sent it sailing down the middle of the ice before Buffalo's penalty-killers headed to the bench to change.
The puck took one bounce about five feet in front of Korpisalo, shot slightly to the right and sailed into the net as Korpisalo froze.
The NHL's official play by play charted it as a 149-foot goal.
Earlier this season, Korpisalo allowed a goal to Montreal's P.K. Subban from 86 feet. He recovered that night, stopping every shot the rest of the way in a 5-2 win over the Canadiens.
Korpisalo did much the same against the Sabres, but the Jackets couldn't muster any scoring.
They did have chances, however.
Lehner, who missed the first 3 1/2 months of the season with an injury, was making just his 12th start of the season, but looked sharp.
In the first period, he went post-to-post to rob Blue Jackets' right winger Cam Atkinson from the doorstep, and early in the third he did the same to stone Blue Jackets rookie left winger Kerby Rychel.
The Sabres got all the offense they needed at 14:55 of the first, when McGinn jumped on a rebound in front of Korpisalo for an easy goal. The initial shot was taken by Sabres rookie Jack Eichel.
Eichel set up McGinn's second goal too, skating wide of Blue Jackets defenseman Dalton Prout and chucking the puck into the crease, where McGinn buried it for a 3-0 lead at 7:16 of the third.
The Sabres pushed the lead to 4-0 just 2 1/2 minutes later, when left winger Evander Kane outraced Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray for a breakaway.
Korpisalo stopped the initial shot, but couldn't stop Reinhart, who came hard to the net.
NOTES: Buffalo LW Evander Kane returned to the lineup after a one-game, club-imposed suspension for missing a recent practice. Kane overslept on Monday, the morning after attending the NBA All-Star Game in Toronto, and he missed Tuesday's 2-1 overtime loss to Ottawa. ... Blue Jackets G Joonas Korpisalo made his 11th consecutive start, the longest string by a Columbus netminder this season. ... Sabres C Ryan O'Reilly and C Zemgus Girgensons missed Thursday's practice with an illness, but were in the lineup.