Preseason Game 1 v. Columbus

VISITOR 4 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS Game 4 Away Game 2

Event Summary Friday, September 21, 2007 HSBC Arena Start 7:11 EDT ; End 9:47 EDT Game 0041 Final

HOME 1 BUFFALO SABRES Game 1 Home Game 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -Gilbert Brule scored twice, leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in a preseason game Friday night.

"You can definitely see it [the difference between the AHL and NHL]," said Dylan Hunter, who was appearing in his first career NHL preseason game. "Just the speed and strength of guys in the corners, how quick you have to make plays, every level seems to get faster and faster."

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Kris Russell and Rick Nash added goals for Columbus, which improved to 2-2 in the preseason.

Clarke MacArthur scored for Buffalo, in its first preseason game.

"Everybody in the lineup is working hard and knows what they have to do," said Jochen Hecht. "Drew Stafford was up last year scoring goals and Pat Kaleta is finishing his hits and playing tough. Everyone's having a good camp."

Jason Pominville led Buffalo with five shots on goal, while Thomas Vanek tied Kaleta for the team high in hits with a pair.

Buffalo goalie Jocelyn Thibault, the Sabres' lone free-agent signing of the offseason, made 18 saves. Steve Mason stopped 20 shots for Columbus.

"We still have a lot of guys here and we can change the lineup quite a bit," said Hecht. "We need to get some rest and play a couple of games in a short time frame, but it makes you ready for the season."

The Sabres will play the tail end of the home-and-home with Columbus on Sunday night at the Nationwide Arena and then ship out to Ralph Englestad Arena to meet the Minnesota Wild at the University of North Dakota Monday.

Russell and Brule scored power-play goals 25 seconds apart in the second period to give the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead. Columbus started the second period with a two-man advantage carried over from the first period, and Russell scored 49 seconds in on a deflection. Brule then snapped in a shot from the left faceoff circle with 1 second remaining in the power play.

Nash scored six minutes into the third, backhanding in a loose puck after Thibault stopped Rostislav Klesla on a backhand shot. Brule netted his second of the night six minutes later on a tip-in.