Josh Norris scores twice in the Sabres' 5-2 victory over the Blue Jackets

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Norris scored twice, defenseman Owen Power had three assists and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Friday night.

Norris ended a six-game goals drought to help Buffalo win for the fourth time in five games.

Jack Quinn, Rasmus Dahlin and Josh Doan also scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 24 saves.

Kent Johnson and Zach Werenski scored for Columbus, and Jet Greaves made 32 saves. The Blue Jackets have lost three straight road games.

Quinn opened the scoring at 6:50 of the first period with his ninth of the season, and Johnson tied it with 4:00 left in the period with his eighth. Norris made it 2-1 with 1:50 to go in the first with his first goal since Oct. 17.

Dahlin made it 3-1 with a one-timer 4:30 into the second period. Norris’ second goal at 9:46 made it 4-1. Doan made it 5-1 1:07 later.

Werenski's power-play goal with 1:39 left in the third made it 5-2.

Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan left the second period because of a lower-body injury and did not return. He blocked Dahlin's shot during his last shift.

Blue Jackets: Host Florida on Tuesday night.

Sabres: Host Vegas on Sunday.

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Buffalo Sabres left wing Beck Malenstyn, right, clears the puck while pressured by Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Matthew Knies during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Buffalo Sabres right wing Jack Quinn, center, celebrates with defensemen Zach Metsa, left, and Owen Power after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Buffalo Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) deflects a shot during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Buffalo Sabres center Josh Norris, left, celebrates with defenseman Rasmus Dahlin after scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Buffalo Sabres right wing Jack Quinn (22) reacts after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Three weeks after lung cancer surgery, Pope Leo XIV opened a three-nation tour of Latin America on Friday by declaring he felt better than he looked and crediting God, good doctors and his healthy lifestyle with his quick recovery.

The 71-year-old pope arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, Latin America’s most secular country, after a 13 1/2-hour flight from Rome during which he acknowledged “some people” had doubted whether he could make the grueling, 12-day trip at all.

“I confess that from the first day, I had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward,” he told reporters aboard the papal plane.

As if to prove his point, he immediately got down to business, drawing huge crowds in Montevideo as he pulled into town in his open-sided popemobile. The Vatican estimated 30,000 people had turned out to watch him go by and attend his first event in town.

“Pope Leo, Uruguay is with you!” the crowd chanted.

Despite the long trip, the 71-year-old Leo seemed in fine form as he arrived at the Plaza Independencia for the formal welcome and speech, held outdoors on a blustery afternoon. He greeted Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi and government officials, smiling broadly as the wind whipped the Uruguayan and Holy See flags behind him.

He kept going with a second big event at the Montevideo cathedral, presiding over an evening vespers service that ended at 9 p.m. local time, or 1 a.m. Rome time.

In his remarks to Orsi, delivered in Spanish, Leo praised Uruguay's development but gently recalled its Catholic heritage in a bid to try to propose the Catholic faith to the country’s 3.5 million people to confront today’s challenges, a key aim of his three-day visit.

He insisted that the state was obliged to care for its people, young and old, a veiled reference to Uruguay’s permissive abortion policies and 2025 legalization of assisted dying, both of which run counter to Catholic teaching.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that each person can live with dignity, receive the care they need, and be accompanied until the natural end of his or her life,” Leo said, using Vatican terminology to articulate the church’s opposition to euthanasia.

Latin America is home to around 40% of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, but Uruguay is considered its most secular country. Here, only a fraction of people who identify as Catholic actually go to Mass regularly.

Uruguay’s secularism has roots in the weakness of its colonial church. With no gold or silver to mine, Spain valued the land of cattle ranches mainly as a buffer against Portuguese Brazil and left it largely unsettled. Montevideo was founded only in the 1720s, roughly two centuries after Mexico City and Lima.

With few priests and no local bishop, the church never became the powerful institution it was elsewhere in the empire. “Uruguay was colonized late, and that made Catholicism weaker,” said Gerardo Caetano, a Uruguayan historian.

The origins of the separation between church and state can be traced back to the 19th century, particularly to the spread of liberal ideas promoted by European intellectuals, who viewed religion as a symptom of backwardness or a lack of rationality, said Luis Bahamondes, a professor at the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Chile.

This process went so far as to include the renaming of certain holidays to reflect their secular character—such as “Family Day” and “Tourism Week”—signaling that the “inherent weight of Catholicism had no place within the state’s official framework,” Bahamondes added.

Since then, Uruguay has become the first country in the world to legalize marijuana for recreational use, the second country in Latin America to decriminalize abortion, and the third country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage.

More recently, it became the first country in the region to approve assisted dying legislation over the strong opposition of the Catholic Church.

“We still don’t understand why he chose Uruguay, given that it’s a secular country, but we hope he leaves something positive behind,” said Mary Fernández while drinking a mate - Uruguay’s beloved beverage - by the river as she waited for Leo to arrive.

By the time he actually did pull into town, throngs of Uruguayans had lined his motorcade route, cheering wildly as he passed by in his popemobile. He kissed babies that were passed up to him and received the keys to the city from Montevideo's mayor, all signs of at least interest in his visit and respect for his role.

“I am very happy, and I am certain that his visit will bring us much good fortune and many blessings,” said retiree Marie Hernández, a 75-year-old Catholic. “We are a secular country, and it is truly beautiful to see the unity among all religions, whether Catholic or otherwise.”

Leo said the Catholic Church in particular was committed to caring for all those in need.

“To this common effort, the church contributes what is unique to her: a hope that does not fade when human resources reach their limits and which reminds those undergoing trials that their lives always retain meaning and value, that they are not alone, and that even in dark times they do not cease to be loved by God,” he said.

The trip to Latin America marks the longest and farthest of Leo’s pontificate, all being undertaken as the 71-year-old pope continues his recovery from Oct. 13 surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung.

Leo told reporters traveling to Uruguay he was “very happy to be here myself” and gave thanks that he was able to make the trip. After Uruguay, Leo heads to Argentina and finally Peru, where he spent two decades as a missionary bishop.

Leo credited his rebound to “Trusting God, good doctors, good surgeons, and overall I think a healthy lifestyle.”

Asked if he felt as good as he looked, he quipped: “Maybe better."

Uruguayan church officials have marveled at the enthusiasm the visit has provoked among the faithful, especially after Leo's hospitalization, with reports that tickets to Leo’s prayer vigil at Montevideo’s Centenario Stadium were snapped up after two days.

The last pope to visit Uruguay was St. John Paul II in 1988.

“It seems that the pope’s presence is shifting something here and is gradually breaking down this veil that has always sought to obscure and diminish the presence of the Catholic tradition that lies at the country’s foundation,” said Guzmán Carriquiry, the Uruguayan former head of the Vatican’s pontifical commission for Latin America.

Andrew Chesnut, chair of Catholic studies and an expert in the Latin American church at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he wasn’t surprised that Leo’s visit had generated enthusiasm and that he would be welcomed warmly.

“But that’s not necessarily going to translate into folks in the pews,” he said. “If the overarching goal is trying to revitalize Catholicism in the most Catholic region on Earth, Uruguay is kind of a lost cause, and it has been for decades.”

AP reporter Ramiro Barreiro contributed from Montevideo, Uruguay.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

This story corrects a previous headline to note that Pope Leo’s visit to Latin America is a 3-nation tour, not a 3-day tour.

Pope Leo XIV is flanked by Uruguay's President Yamandú Ors as he arrives at Plaza Independencia, in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, during his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Faithful celebrate the arrival of Pope Leo XIV in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich)

Pope Leo XIV attends a welcome ceremony with Uruguay's President Yamandú Orsi, left, at Plaza Independencia in Montevideo, on the first day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV waves after arriving in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Pope Leo XIV is welcomed by Uruguay's President Yamandú Orsi, right as he arrives at General Cesáreo L. Berisso Montevideo-Carrasco International Airport in Montevideo, on the first day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV arrives at Montevideo-Carrasco International Airport in Montevideo on the first day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV is welcomed by Uruguay's President Yamandú Orsi, right as he arrives at General Cesáreo L. Berisso Montevideo-Carrasco International Airport in Montevideo, on the first day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV arrives at General Cesáreo L. Berisso Montevideo-Carrasco International Airport in Montevideo, on the first day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Children wait for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A faithful wears a scarf featuring Pope Leo XIV in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Faithful wait for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

People cheer as a statue of Pope Leo XIV is installed in 'El Niño' park in Callao, Peru, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, ahead of his planned trip to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from November 6 to17. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

A vendor sells scarves featuring Pope Leo XIV's image ahead of his arrival in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Pope Leo XIV departs from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, near Rome, for Montevideo, Uruguay, at the start of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV departs from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, near Rome, for Montevideo, Uruguay, at the start of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV appears at the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for the Angelus noon prayer on All Saints' Day, a feast celebrated across much of the Christian world, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV blesses a new born after his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV celebrates a mass in memory of cardinals and bishops who died during the past year, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A mototaxi pass drives past a banner of Pope Leo XIV at Pimentel beach in Chiclayo, Peru, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, ahead of his planned trip to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from November 6 to 17. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)