Blue Jackets vs. Sabres: Matthew Knies Scores Twice in His Columbus Debut Three Days After the Trade

On Monday, Matthew Knies was a Toronto Maple Leaf. By Thursday night, he was the first player in Columbus Blue Jackets history to score more than once in his team debut. Most people need longer than three days to learn where the good coffee is in a new office.

Knies scored twice and added an assist as the Blue Jackets beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 at Nationwide Arena in the season opener for both teams. Charlie Coyle had three assists, reigning Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski had two, and Jet Greaves made 23 saves as Columbus won a season opener for the first time in five years, according to the AP.

"That's a lot of luck," Knies said. "Credit to these boys 'cause they made me feel comfortable to do everything out there and it's a good group in here and easy to play for."

A Shaky Start, Then a Late First-Period Flurry

Knies arrived in a six-player trade that sent Kirill Marchenko to Toronto, and the Blue Jackets did not exactly ease him in. Buffalo actually struck first. With the teams skating 4-on-4 after Carson Soucy and Tage Thompson took minors, Mattias Samuelsson, back after a lower-body injury in the preseason, fired a snap shot from the high slot at 7:21 that deflected off Denton Mateychuk's stick and in.

Cole Sillinger tied it at 12:51, burying a Coyle drop pass from the left hash marks. Then Samuelsson went to the box for holding at 17:03, and the new guy went to work. Knies one-timed a Coyle pass from the slot on the power play at 17:58 for his first goal as a Blue Jacket. Just 46 seconds later, he helped set up Adam Fantilli, who tipped a Werenski shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at 18:44 for a 3-1 lead. Fantilli did not play in the preseason after holding out of training camp until signing on Sept. 24. He did not look rusty.

"It's a first game. It's usually pretty hectic, at least with the start," Coyle said. "But when you get rewarded you play with a little more confidence, so that was the key."

The Turning Point: Surviving the Two-Man Advantage

Buffalo did not go quietly. Jack Quinn snapped a shot from the left circle past Greaves' glove 1:25 into the second to make it 3-2. Two and a half minutes later, the night got dicey for Columbus. Sillinger was called for hooking at 3:58, and on the same whistle Mathieu Olivier and Zach Metsa dropped the gloves, with the end result leaving Buffalo with a two-man advantage for two full minutes.

Columbus killed all of it. Then, 1:47 after the kill ended, Knies redirected a shot at 7:45 for his second goal and a 4-2 lead, with Emil Andrae and Kent Johnson assisting. That sequence was the game. Buffalo's best chance to tie it came and went with nothing to show for it, and the Blue Jackets turned the momentum into a goal almost immediately.

Konsta Helenius kept the Sabres alive with a one-timer from low in the left circle at 13:14, cutting it to 4-3. But Buffalo never pulled even, and the special teams story only got worse for Buffalo.

"A game like that with five power plays, we're going to need to find a way to get one," Quinn said.

Closing It Out

Knies nearly had a hat trick, which would have been the third of his NHL career, but Luukkonen stopped him on a breakaway at 11:25 of the third. Knies was honest about the attempt. "Probably not the right play," he said. "I feel like he had me the whole time."

It did not matter. Samuelsson went off for tripping at 12:23, and Sean Monahan scored on the power play at 14:21 for a 5-3 cushion, with Valeri Nichushkin and Dmitri Voronkov assisting. Olivier finished it with an empty-netter at 17:53, set up by Coyle's third assist.

Star Watch

Matthew Knies: Two goals and an assist in 16:06. NHL.com noted he is the first player to score multiple goals in his Blue Jackets debut, and his three points tied Artemi Panarin (three assists, Oct. 6, 2017) for the most in a Columbus debut.

Charlie Coyle: Three assists in 19:04, including the setups on Sillinger's and Knies' first-period goals.

Zach Werenski: Two assists and a game-high 28:46 of ice time, per NHL.com.

Jet Greaves: 23 saves on 26 shots.

Owen Power: Two assists in 25:25 for Buffalo. NHL.com said he became the third Sabres defenseman since 1990-91 with multiple assists in the team's season opener.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen: 17 saves on 22 shots, including the breakaway stop on Knies.

Stats That Matter

• 0 for 5: Buffalo's power play, including two minutes of 5-on-3 time. Columbus went 2 for 3.
• 3: Knies' points, tying the Columbus record for a debut.
• 28:46 and 27:28: Ice time for Werenski and partner Mateychuk. Columbus leaned hard on its top pair.
• 26-23: Buffalo's edge in shots on goal, which did not help much.
• 15-8: Columbus' advantage in blocked shots.

What It Means

Columbus starts 1-0-0, and the AP noted the Blue Jackets have now won four straight home games against Buffalo. They did it shorthanded on the back end, too, with Ivan Provorov (lower body), Damon Severson (shoulder) and Dante Fabbro (broken hand) all out. NHL.com noted Provorov's regular-season games-played streak ended at 375. The Blue Jackets host Utah on Saturday.

Buffalo starts 0-1-0 and heads home to face Chicago on Saturday in its home opener. Zach Benson did not sound alarmed. "Just a couple of breakdowns," he said. "Obviously we want a couple of those back, but no big thing."

Closing Take

Knies changed teams and cities in the span of three days, and he still looked like one of the most comfortable players on the ice. He sounded like a guy who already knows where everything is. "We've just got to keep taking steps forward," he said. "There's a lot of potential in this room, a lot of skill, a lot of guys that work their tails off." New team, new city, same finish around the net. Columbus fans will take that trade-off every time.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.