Brandon Saad

Bobrovsky stops 41 shots as Blue Jackets beats Sabres 3-1

Published Mar. 28, 2017 10:39 p.m. ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Cam Atkinson got his team-leading 34th goal and Sergei Bobrovsky had 41 saves to power the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

Kyle Quincey also scored for Columbus, getting his first goal since being acquired from New Jersey on March 1. Brandon Saad got an empty-net goal with 1:05 left after Buffalo pulled its goalie for an extra skater.

The win put the Blue Jackets two points ahead of idle Pittsburgh in second place in the Metropolitan Division as they battle for home-ice advantage in the playoffs next month. Columbus won its second straight to improve to 7-2-1 in its last 10.

Bobrovsky got his league-leading 41st win, following a 1-0 shutout win over Philadelphia on Saturday in which he had 36 saves.

Evan Rodrigues scored for Buffalo, and Anders Nilsson had 26 saves as the Sabres lost for the first time in three games.

Quincey started the scoring with 5:13 left in the first period. He was in position when a Buffalo player swept the puck away from the net after a rebound, and he found the back of the net with a wrister from the slot through heavy traffic.

Atkinson got another one three minutes later when he caught up to pass from Seth Jones on a rush and beat Nilsson on the short side. It was Atkinson's first point in five games.

Rodrigues got Buffalo on the board during a power play 10:53 into the second period when he slammed in a one-timer from the left circle.

NOTES: The Blue Jackets managed only three shots on three power plays. ... Buffalo D Rasmus Ristolainen served the final game of a three-game suspension for interference on Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel on March 21. ... Columbus F Oliver Bjorkstrand missed a third straight game after taking a monster illegal hit from Toronto's Roman Polak last Wednesday. ... Buffalo's Cody Franson and Taylor Fedun both missed a fifth straight game due to injury. ... Columbus has scored the first goal of game 48 times, second in the NHL. ... Buffalo C Ryan O'Reilly, who had an assist on Rodrigues' goal, has 14 points in his last 15 games.

UP NEXT:

Sabres: Host the New York Islanders on Sunday.

Blue Jackets: Open a back-to-back on Thursday against Carolina.

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Brandon Saad

Cam Atkinson

Sergei Bobrovsky