BUFFALO (LGS) — The Buffalo Sabres opened up their 2007 preseason schedule with a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets Friday night in front of a sold out HSBC Arena crowd.

The Sabres stormed out of the gates dominating the first period but they ultimately failed to convert on their chances thanks in part to the stellar goaltending of Columbus' Steve Mason.

Buffalo found themselves two-men down to start the second period and Columbus took advantage by scoring two power play goals 25 seconds apart.

Kris Russell deflected a shot over Sabres' netminder Jocelyn Thibault 49 seconds into the period and seconds later Gilbert Brule scored the first of his two goals by one-timing a shot from the lower-left circle.

Columbus added a third power play goal 6:24 into the third period when Rick Nash poked home a loose puck just after Thibault made a good stop on a Rostislav Klesla backhand shot.

The Sabres finally managed to get on the board halfway through the final period when Clarke MacArthur deflected a Michael Funk point shot into the Columbus net. Dylan Hunter picked up the secondary assist.

Brule would add his second of the night and the Blue Jackets' fourth power play goal of the game just over two minutes later to close up the scoring-sheet.

Sabres' right winger Drew Stafford left the game right after Columbus' fourth goal. The young star appeared to be favoring his forearm.

"He's got a little bit of an injury that we may have to address," Sabres' head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. "We'll see how he is tomorrow but he could be out a few days."

Despite the score, Buffalo appeared to be the more dominant team throughout the game but conditioning and fluidity weren't on their side facing a team which had already played in three previous games. Heading into Friday night, the Sabres and New York Rangers were the only two teams in the NHL without a game played.

"I liked the way our kids worked, I put them into some tough situations," added Ruff. "There was a lot to like about the game."

Ruff was definitely not shy in using his younger players in critical situations like penalty killing.

"I think a little bit of disparity came with that, they had their big guns up front with (Rick) Nash and (Sergei) Federov.

Columbus improved their preseason record to 2-2 while the Sabres will start off at 0-1. The two teams travel down to Buckeye Country this weekend for a rematch Sunday afternoon at 5pm at the Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus.

LGS Game Notes

♦ The Blue Jackets definitely felt the heat from Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta all game long. It took Kaleta only two seconds into his first shift before he leveled an opposing player with a huge open-ice hit. Write this down, within two years, you won't be able to go anywhere in Buffalo without seeing a #36 Kaleta jersey.

♦ Halfway into the first period, Kaleta sent Nikolai Zherdev flying through the air with another jarring open-ice collision. The hit ultimately led into a brawl just outside of the Blue Jackets' bench. During the brawl, Columbus tough guy Jared Boll decided to pick a fight with Buffalo's Andrej Sekera, who clearly didn't want any part of it. Boll was whaling away at Sekera before Andrew Peters broke away from his holder. Peters managed to land two big punches leveling both Boll and 6-foot-4 Tommy Sestito. For his troubles, Peters received a third-man-in and a game misconduct but not before delighting the HSBC Arena crowd. YouTube: Clip #1 | Clip #2.

♦ One of Buffalo's best performers tonight was defenseman Michael Funk who looked real good at both ends of the ice. Funk assisted on Buffalo's lone goal and used his big body to his advantage in both the offensive and defensive zones. With Numminen out indefinitely, Funk will definitely give Sekera a good fight for the seventh defenseman position.

♦ In addition to Funk, forward Mark Mancari looked noticeably better and faster. The big forward definitely improved his skating in the offseason. He made a few key plays in the defensive zone in addition to delivering some big hits tonight. Overall, the Sabres played a rather physical game that featured a good amount of thunderous checks.

♦ Jochen Hecht captained the Sabres today while Brian Campbell and Toni Lydman were alternates.

♦ Hecht centered Philippe Gogulla and Jason Pominville. Derek Roy centered Thomas Vanek and Stafford. Marek Zagrapan centered Clarke MacArthur and Mancari. Dylan Hunter centered Peters and Kaleta. On defense, a noticeably slimmer and faster Jaroslav Spacek was paired with Toni Lydman. Nathan Paetsch played with Funk and Brian Campbell was paired with Sekera.

♦ Lindy Ruff expects to get tonight's healthy scratches into the lineup Sunday night. Each preseason game should feature a healthy combination of veterans and prospects.

♦ Buffalo's own Chris Ciamaga was one of the two NHL officials for tonight's game. Ciamaga was born and raised in Buffalo. He graduated from St. Francis High School, which also produced Sabres' forward Patrick Kaleta among various other NHL players.

♦ Special teams were horrendous to say the least. Buffalo allowed four power play goals on eight attempts while being blanked on their six man-advantage opportunities. That being said, the Sabres did manage to move the puck well on the power play creating many solid scoring chances. Finishing those chances, however, was a different story.