Sabres Bury Columbus, Erase Any Goaltending Doubt in 5-1 Rout

Buffalo made our goaltending math look foolish Tuesday night, steamrolling Columbus 5-1 and turning a narrow projected edge into a laugher. We backed the Blue Jackets +1.5 at -105, banking on Colten Ellis's .903 not being dominant enough to justify the Sabres laying the puck line — and technically Ellis wasn't the problem. Buffalo's offense was. The Sabres lit up Pheonix Copley for five goals, exposing the .893 netminder we knew was shaky but hoped could keep it close enough. He couldn't. Columbus managed just one goal in return, nowhere near the 3.00 goals-per-game pace we cited, and Buffalo's 3.45 offensive average suddenly looked conservative.

The pick missed cleanly. When you're selling a +1.5 on goaltending parity and offensive balance, you need the underdog to at least show up with a pulse. Columbus didn't. Buffalo controlled tempo, cashed chances, and never let the margin tighten. Ellis held up fine — his team just scored five. Our 45-47% puck-line cover rate is real, but this wasn't a coin flip; it was a mismatch. Sometimes the favorite is priced heavy for a reason, and tonight the Sabres proved it. Tip your cap and move on.