The Buffalo Sabres opened their 2024 Prospects Challenge with a dominant 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Harborcenter on Friday, with 20-year-old forward Jiri Kulich making a good first impression on the club’s hierarchy in his bid to crack the NHL roster with a three-point performance (2 goals, 1 assist).
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The 20-year-old centered the Sabres top line with wingers Viktor Neuchev and Isak Rosen and opened the scoring midway through the first period. After Gavin Brindley tied the game early in the middle frame, Buffalo took the lead back for good less than two minutes later, as Kulich assisted on Olivier Nadeau’s power-play game-winner.
The Sabres outshot the Blue Jackets 41-21 in the contest, and Kulich provided the insurance marker early in the third on a power move and deked past Columbus goalie Nolan Lalonde.
“I just liked how competitive he was,” Amerks head coach Michael Leone said after the game. “How many times did he hunt down the puck to keep possession alive, and obviously, we really liked his second goal.”
After posting a pair of 20+ goal seasons with Rochester the last two seasons, the young forward needs to prove that he can put forth a consistent effort to make the Sabres opening night roster. That is something he is aware of, as he said in his post-game remarks that his play last season was “pretty lazy and not strong enough”.
Sabres Lineup Vs. Columbus
Forward
Neuchev-Kulich-Rosen
Wahlberg-Helenius-Ostlund
Kisakov-Kozak-Nadeau
Miedema-Tullio-Cheveldayoff
Defense
Johnson-Komarov
Novikov-Laaouan
Panocha-Bodin
Goalie
Ratzlaff
Box Score
1st
Kulich (BUF) (Rosen) 10:44
2nd
Brindley(CBJ) 3:41
Nadeau (BUF) (Neuchev – Kulich) 5:23
3rd
Kulich (BUF) (Laaouan) (2:30)
Shots on Goal
Buffalo 16-19-6 (41)
Columbus 4-9-8 (21)
The Sabres will play the New Jersey Devils prospects on Saturday night. The Devils won 9-1 against the Ottawa Senators prospects on Friday.
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