Two weeks ago, Miles Wood was afraid his career might be in peril. A scary eye injury in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ home opener knocked him out of the lineup for two weeks as he waited for the blood to drain so the full range of vision could return.
Wood didn’t miss anything on Tuesday.
The Blue Jackets’ veteran winger celebrated his return to the lineup with his best game in nearly three years. Wood scored the tying goal at the 13:55 mark in the third period, then scored the overtime game-winner at 2:53 to send Columbus to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres before 15,059 at KeyBank Center.
It was the first OT game-winner of Wood’s 517-game NHL career, and Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said he played himself into the role with a strong performance in regulation.
“He was having a good night, right?” Evason told FanDuel Sports Network. “And that’s what we do when we huddle after the game’s over as a coaching staff, we talk about stuff like that. We have a card (we carry) that projects who we think should go. And then somebody says, ‘Maybe Woody.’
“That’s part of coaching. Sometimes you guess right, and sometimes you don’t. Fortunately, we guessed right tonight.”
MILES WOOD WINS IT IN OVERTIME! 💥
CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/F3DEoQ29ho
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 29, 2025
Zach Werenski and Yegor Chinakhov also scored for the Blue Jackets, who came back from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits. Werenski’s power-play goal with just 15.4 seconds remaining in the second allowed the Jackets to escape a shoddy period in a 2-2 tie.
Goaltender Jet Greaves finished with 35 saves, and the Blue Jackets won their fourth consecutive road game for the first time since Jan. 30 to Feb. 12, 2022. They didn’t win their fourth game on the road last season until Dec. 8.
The Blue Jackets ended the game with a slick series of plays beginning with center Isac Lundestrom, who appeared to be headed out of the attack to get a reset at three-on-three play, only to turn a tight circle at the blue line. That opened up the zone for Werenski to creep in through the left circle.
Lundestrom found Werenski in stride, and Werenski was preparing to shoot. But he saw Wood on the doorstep and set him up perfectly.
“It’s the best feeling in team sports,” Wood said. “Lundy made a great play to (Werenski), and I was just fortunate enough to get there and make a play.”
Evason’s decision-making has been questioned by more than a few in the fan base regarding his handling of winger Chinakhov, who has been stuck in a fourth-line role since he came into the lineup when Wood was injured on Oct. 13.
The coach had a tough call after practice on Monday, when it was clear that Wood was ready to return. Instead of scratching Chinakhov, who has played very well over the last week, he bumped Zach Aston-Reese from the lineup to put Wood and Chinakhov on the flanks of Lundestrom, the center.
That’s the Blue Jackets’ fourth line, but it produced like a top line on Tuesday.
Chinakhov scored the game’s first goal off a strong forechecking effort with Wood. When Buffalo’s clear attempt brushed off a leg and shot to the center of the Sabres defensive zone, Chinakhov pounced, skating wide of goaltender Alex Lyon before making it 1-0 at 6:09.
Yegor Chinakhov with some nifty moves to open the scoring! 🙌
📺: Frozen Frenzy Whiparound coverage on @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/d41p1c9jxk
— NHL (@NHL) October 28, 2025
It was Chinakhov’s second goal in as many games, and he played a season-high 12:49. Wood could have easily been credited with an assist on the play.
The two teamed up again on the tying goal late in the third.
Chinakhov gained the zone with the puck, and waited — and waited — just inside the blue line for traffic to form in front of the Sabres net. It was Wood coming through the left side of the zone, and Chinakhov fired at the net just as he crossed Lyon.
“Chinny made a great play there,” said Wood, who was acquired in a trade last June with the Colorado Avalanche. “You know, I didn’t really know him prior to this year, but over the last five or six games, while I’ve been in the stands (with the eye injury), he’s stuck out to me.
“He’s an incredible talent. Incredible kid. And he made a great play there. I just happened to get a stick on it and it goes in.”
Wood (two goals, zero assists and two points) and Lundestrom (zero goals, one assist and one point) were both plus-3, while Chinakhov was plus-2.
WOODY GETS A STICK ON IT AND WE ARE TIED! 💥
CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/dPjyzjGBAJ
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 29, 2025
The Blue Jackets didn’t have much time to celebrate their second straight win beyond regulation. On Saturday in Pittsburgh, the Jackets beat the Penguins 5-4 in a shootout after coughing up a 4-2 lead late in the game.
“This wasn’t the prettiest of wins,” Werenski said. “The second and third period, we kind of opened ourselves up a bit. We got away from the kind of game we want to play. But we found a way to get two points.”
Because of the way the Wood-Lundestrom-Chinakhov line played, Evason and his assistants were able to roll four forward lines and give them mostly even ice time. Wood played 13:24, Lundestrom 13:48 and Chinakhov 12:49.
There was a relatively small gap between them and the top line: center Sean Monahan (16:05), with wingers Dmitri Voronkov ( 13:59) and Kirill Marchenko (15:52).
That’s key because the Blue Jackets host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday in Nationwide Arena, their second back-to-back of the season.
