Buffalo 3, Montreal 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 21, 2017
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Referees:
Ghislain Hebert, Marc Joannette
Linesmen:
Steve Barton, Ryan Gibbons
Attendance:
21288
By The Sports Xchange
MONTREAL -- Carey Price flashed the glove late in the third period to send the game to overtime. Robin Lehner countered with a remarkable glove save of his own in the extra frame to help propel his team to victory.
Eighteen seconds after Lehner robbed Alex Galchenyuk from the slot, the Buffalo Sabres headed down the ice on an odd-man rush before Zach Bogosian recorded his first goal of the season from the top of the right circle in the 3-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
"It was the game-changer," said Price of Lehner's save. Both netminders stopped 36 shots.
It marked the second straight overtime win for the Sabres (19-18-9), who defeated the Detroit Red Wings one night earlier.
Montreal was in control for much of the overtime, taking the first three shots on Lehner before Bogosian ended it on Buffalo's lone shot on goal.
"They were kind of sitting back in the 3-on-3 and waiting for a turnover and a chance to jump, and that's what they did," Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty said.
Artturi Lehkonen and Phillip Danault connected in regulation for the Canadiens (28-13-7). Brian Gionta and Cody Franson also scored for Buffalo.
A slow start to the first period gave way to a more energetic second half of the period, with both sides trading chances.
After Pacioretty was stopped by Lehner's pad and denied himself on the rebound, Gionta and Evander Kane came close at the other end for the Sabres. Shortly thereafter, Jeff Petry couldn't get a strong shot off on a one-timer from the right circle.
Lehkonen opened the scoring at 3:54 of the second period. Lehner stopped Paul Byron's shot from the high slot but let a big rebound bounce out to Lehkonen, who fired from just inside the right circle.
The Sabres capitalized on the Canadiens' inability to get the puck out of the crease to tie the score less than a minute later. After his teammates couldn't get their sticks on it, Price tried to poke it out of harm's way to his left, but Kane got his stick on it first and fed Gionta, all alone on the right side.
Danault's 10th goal of the season put Montreal back in front 2-1. Pacioretty was patient along the right wall before dishing off to Petry at the point. The Canadiens' defenseman fired a bullet from the blue line and Danault, screening Lehner, tipped it past the netminder.
Franson evened the score at 11:53 of the third period off a faceoff. Ryan O'Reilly won the draw directly back to the defenseman, who fired a shot from the blue line through several sticks and into the net.
"That's something our team has done really well, is stay in the game, stay emotionally attached to the game," Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. "They got the goal to go up in the second and they made it tough on us. Tough times there through the middle of the third period; it didn't feel like we could get much generated, couldn't get it going. But we stayed with it and come up with a face-off goal."
The Sabres put the pressure on through the rest of the third and came close to ending it in the dying seconds of regulation, but Price stood tall on a partial break by Matt Moulson before following it up with a perfectly timed flash of the glove on Rasmus Ristolainen.
After being outshot 19-9 in the second, Buffalo outshot Montreal 14-7 in the third.
"There was a lot of great chances there and we would have liked to keep our foot on the gas a little bit more," Pacioretty said. "Credit them, obviously, credit their goaltender, credit our goaltender. A lot of good chances back and forth. They just got one up on us."
NOTES: Canadiens C Tomas Plekanec played in his 891st career NHL game, all with Montreal, giving him sole possession of 13th place on the franchise's games played list. ... Montreal RW Alexander Radulov dressed for his 200th NHL game. ... With D Jake McCabe injured against Detroit on Friday night, the Sabres recalled D Casey Nelson from the AHL's Rochester Americans to face Montreal. ... Buffalo scratched D Josh Gorges (hip) and LW Nicolas Deslauriers (healthy). ... The Canadiens kept the same lineup from Friday's win, leaving LW Daniel Carr and D Ryan Johnston as the healthy scratches. ... It was the first of two meetings between the clubs in a span of 10 days, both at the Bell Centre.
Top Game Performances
Buffalo |
|
Montreal |
Evander Kane 2 |
Points |
Phillip Danault 1 |
Zach Bogosian 1 |
Goals |
Phillip Danault 1 |
Evander Kane 2 |
Assists |
Paul Byron 1 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Robin Lehner .947 |
Save Percentage |
Carey Price .921 |
Robin Lehner 36 |
Saves |
Carey Price 35 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Buffalo
|
38 |
3 |
0-3 |
1-1 |
2 |
28 |
Montreal
|
38 |
2 |
0-1 |
3-3 |
6 |
27 |
Upcoming Games
-
Montreal will play their next game at home against Calgary. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .552 after a win and .632 after a loss.
-
Buffalo will play their next game on the road against Nashville. The Sabres have a W/L % of .368 after a win and .444 after a loss.