BUFFALO -- The Columbus Blue Jackets kept knocking on the door -- rather unpleasantly, the home team would say -- and kept getting turned away Thursday night. They were the aggressors in the season opener at Buffalo, the better team, but kept coming close with nothing to show for their efforts and opportunities.
That changed in the third period, finally, as two goals in the final 7:15 led to a 3-1 win and validated a 40-22 edge in shots.
The most telling sign, though, came afterwards. The Blue Jackets were relieved, not ecstatic. They picked up and cleaned up quickly.
Being 1-0 is nice, and it's certainly better than the alternative. It's just the beginning.
"Any win in this league is big," Jackets coach Todd Richards said afterwards. "We wanted to start on the right foot. People have talked about us getting off to slow starts in the past. That has happened and that's one thing we're trying to guard against. We want to get off on the right foot here.
"We're dealing with some adversity, we have some players out of the lineup and a win is a great way to start. We're happy. We're excited. We still have 81 games left. Lots of hockey ahead us."
When someone extended congratulations on an unbeaten start to Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen shortly after the game, he barely looked up from his phone.
"Thank you, but there are 81 games left," Kekalainen said.
Richards said essentially the same a little later. There will be ups and downs. There will be tougher nights and tougher opponents. The Blue Jackets think they've built a team for the long haul.
"We're a big strong team that can skate," Richards said. "When we use our legs and our size, I think we can wear teams down. I think there were points we were starting to wear them down.
"(This win) was a total team effort. Bob came up with some key saves when we needed him to. All four lines played well. Young guys were great. Solid team effort."
Bob, of course, is goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. He's one of the NHL's best and a big reason the Jackets can think big. Ditto 22-year-old Ryan Johansen, who just signed a new, rich contract this week and logged an assist in a little over 14 minutes Thursday night as he plays himself back into shape.
As Johansen talked to reporters after the game, team president John Davidson reached into the scrum and extended Johansen a hand.
All is well. More wins are coming.
"I think we have some pretty good pieces," Johansen said. "I'm excited."
Jack Skille, re-claimed via waivers just five days ago, got the first goal. Alexander Wennberg, playing on the first line because Johansen wasn't, got an assist in his first NHL game. The Sabres tied the game with a little more than five minutes left in the second period and brought the crowd alive, but the stronger and more mature team put it away in the third with goals from Cam Atkinson and Artem Asminov.
It wasn't easy. It ended up being the win the Jackets hoped and thought they'd get heading into Saturday's home opener against the New York Rangers, the defending Eastern Conference champions.
"Big game coming up Saturday," Richards said.
A few feet away, Bobrovsky was still riding an exercise bike outside the locker room more than 30 minutes after the game ended.
Being 1-0 is nice.
These Jackets have plenty of miles left to cover.
