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The Canadiens arrived in Buffalo for a rare Saturday night road game, riding a three-game winning streak but still underdogs in the betting lines. Now missing both Kaiden Guhle and Kirby Dach for the remainder of the season, Owen Beck was in the lineup again to fill in for Dach, and Jakub Dobes got the start in goal for a chance to break his personal three-game losing streak.

The game started off as a bit of a snooze fest but got chippier and more intense as the teams got deeper into it. Ultimately the Habs were able to win it, on the back of both better scoring chances than the Sabres, and solid work by Dobes, who improved his NHL record to 6-3. For the Habs, it extended their winning streak to four games for the first time in three–yes, three!–years, and kept them “in the mix” for a playoff spot.

Starting Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Beck – Laine
Heineman – Evans – Armia
Anderson – Dvorak – Gallagher

Matheson – Carrier
Struble – Hutson
Xhekaj – Savard

Dobes
Montembeault

10 Thoughts

1) After a rather sluggish start to the game, the Habs got the first power play opportunity at 6:32 of the first period, when Tage Thompson got sent off to the box for interference. Patrik Laine managed a decent pass to Nick Suzuki, but the Habs’ captain couldn’t get his stick on it. A better set of opportunities came about as the penalty expired, first with Emil Heineman, and then Brendan Gallagher with a shot and a second off the rebound, but neither one could put it past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

2) As the first period was winding up, the Sabres were increasingly pressing, hemming the Canadiens in their own zone. Dobes had to make some Hasek-like scrambling saves. With 90 seconds remaining, as Dobes was sprawled on the ice to cover the puck, the referee had his hand up for a penalty, sending Alexandre Carrier to the box for hooking. The Sabres managed a shot and a goalpost in the time remaining in the period, but the bleu blanc et rouge escaped the first frame without a goal against, something that’s notable with Buffalo being the top-scoring first-period team in the NHL.

3) At the beginning of the second, with the penalty expiring, J-J Peterka took a wrist shot, which first hit David Savard, then Dobes’ blocker, and finally the goalpost, dropping just behind the goaltender. Dobes blocked the loose puck with his paddle and then flopped over to cover the errant puck. Just a bit of luck on that one!

4) Just eight seconds after the ensuing puck drop, Bowen Byram was called for slashing Cole Caufield. After some 20 seconds of the man advantage, Sabres’ Jordan Greenway snatched the puck to send the home team on a shorthanded break. Lane Hutson broke that up just inside the Montreal blueline, however, and sent the puck to Suzuki for a quick counterattack. Suzuki gave it to Laine, who waited for Luukkonen to make a move and then sent a quick short pass across the net to Caufield, who one-timed it past the Sabres goaltender for the first blood of the game.

5) Alas, that didn’t last long, as six minutes into the period, Buffalo was pressing again, with the Canadiens unable to clear the puck. Jake Evans managed to gain possession in the corner to the right of Dobes, but for some reason, he did not flip the puck into the neutral zone. Instead, he lost it to Jacob Bryson, who took it behind the net and quickly sent it to Alex Tuch at the bottom of the opposite circle. Alex Tuch was ready and free and snapped a one-timer to beat Dobes on the glove side.

6) That Tuch goal was the fifth shot in the period for the Sabres, against a single one for the Habs, who were looking decidedly sleepy. And it didn’t take long for the Sabres to take advantage, as Thompson broke in on the left side at the 7:30 mark, and dropped it to Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin gave it to Peterka, who spotted Jiri Kulich, who had been trailing the play, on the other side of the ice. The Habs defenders were all focused on Thompson, Dahlin, and Peterka, and Kulich was home free with lots of empty net to shoot at.

7) The second Buffalo goal finally seemed to shake the Canadiens out of their stupor, but it took six more minutes for them to be able to beat Luukkonen a second time. Hutson jumped on a loose puck in front of Dobes and carried it through the neutral zone and well into the Buffalo end before passing to Christian Dvorak on his left. Dvorak dropped it back, and Josh Anderson made no mistake in recording his tenth of the season and tying up the game.

8) Carrier was sent off on a high-sticking call at 14:35 when Peterka hit himself in the face with his own stick, but in a bit of karma, Peterka was called for interference just 17 seconds later, when he swatted away Mike Matheson’s stick. That gave us nearly two minutes of four-on-four play–the first of three four-on-four segments on the game–and the speed and skill of the Canadiens’ young stars was one of the highlights of the game. They consistently controlled most of the four-on-four play in the game, with the Sabres struggling to keep up.

9) It was during the second segment, after Jayden Struble and Beck Malenstyn were sent off on matching minors with 36 seconds left in the period, that Montreal took full advantage. With a mobile four-man attack looking like a power play inside the Buffalo zone, Hutson sent the puck to Matheson, who made a quick pass to Alex Newhook, in front of the net, and Newhook tipped it past Luukkonen to give the Habs the lead.

10) After a rather defensively-oriented third period, the Sabres were desperately trying to tie up the game as the clock ticked inexorably down, but here, Dobes was solid, making saves and avoiding giving up dangerous rebounds. Evans finally sealed it after he and Dvorak broke out on a two-on-one attack with Luukkonen on the bench.

HW Habs Three Stars

First Star: Lane Hutson (0g, 2a, 2 shots, +1, 21:58 TOI) was sparkling once again, and the Sabres had no answers to his moves. Hutson was credited with two assists but made the first goal possible, too. There may be a book on his moves now, but apparently, new chapters are being added faster than many opponents can read.

Second Star: Cole Caufield (1g, 0a, 1 shot, +0, 17:58 TOI) got but a single shot on the night, but he executed it to perfection, recording his 29th goal and 54th point in 60 games. How long has it been since the Habs had a goalscorer of his calibre on the roster?

Third Star: Christian Dvorak (0g, 2a, 4 shots, +1, 60% FOW, 16:27 TOI) might have been playing a fourth-line role, but he–and his linemates–were very effective tonight, scoring one even-strength goal and keeping the chances on Dobes to a minimum.