The Sabres Carve Up The Montreal Canadiens 3-2

The Buffalo Sabres once again gave the Montreal Canadiens fits early on, and held on to leave the Bell Centre with a 3-2 victory last night.

Drew Stafford opened the scoring early in the first period after Cody Hodgson stripped defenseman P.K. Subban of the puck in the corner to the left of Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price. Subban’s partner, Andrei Markov, was caught puck watching, and did not cover the net front area, allowing Stafford to score on his own rebound, after Price made a great save on his initial shot.

Feb 3, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens right wing Brandon Prust (8) celebrates his goal against Buffalo Sabres during the first period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

Forward Brandon Prust tied the game up at one, scoring after his holding penalty expired. As he came out of the penalty box, he knocked over Sabres’ defenseman Tyler Myers, who was unaware that the penalty was done, allowing David Desharnais to pick up a loose puck and feed Prust with a cross ice pass on a 2 on 1, beating goaltender Jhonas Enroth on the glove side.

The Sabres retook the lead with 5:07 left in the first period when Matt Moulson scored after being left alone again in the slot. The shot was one Canadiens’ MVP for January would have loved to haveb back, as it beat Carey Price through the five hole.

Before the period was done, former Habs’ captain Brian Gionta gave the Sabres a two-goal lead after he took the puck from behind the Canadiens’ goal, and scored as he tried to pass the puck across the goal mouth of the skate of rookie defenseman Nathan Beaulieu.

From the beginning of the second period through to the end of the game, the Sabres held on for dear life, as the Canadiens outshot them 25-11 .

David Desharnais reduced the deficit to one goal, as the puck went in off his skate at 4:20 of the final period, after Canadiens’ head coach reunited the diminutive forward with left winger Max Pacioretty. That’s as close as the Habs’ would get.

Power Failure Continues

The Canadiens’ power play, which 0-for-2 on the night, got too cute at times. As has been the case for most of the season, the first unit gets caught looking for P.K. Subban at the point to often, which leads his teammates to letting chances from quality scoring areas go by the wayside.

The second unit got much better chances, as they took shots not only off the rush, but after setting up and moving the puck effectively around the zone. Their in-zone rotation was very good, as Nathan Beaulieu slid down the half wall and had David Desharnais take up his vacated position at the point.

Gonchar Showing Sign Of Slowing Down

Habs’ veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar struggled against the Sabres’ forecheck, especially in the second period. With the Sabres bench on the offensive zone side in the period, they could keep the puck deep and change lines on Gonchar at will. Gonchar doesn’t move his feet enough to generate any type of speed coming out of the defensive zone, giving him very little time to decide how to distribute the puck to his forwards.

Feb 3, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Buffalo Sabres right wing Patrick Kaleta (36) crashes into Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) net during the third period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

No Fear For Kaleta

Sabres’ bad boy Patrick Kaleta crashing into Carey Price and took a goalie interference penalty, no one stood up for the Habs’ netmider. If that continues, teams will continue to take liberties on Price without fear of retribution.

The Other Side

Jacob D. Strozyk and our friends over at SabreNoise give you their perspective on the Buffalo Sabres snapping their 14-game losing streak.

Looking Forward

The Canadiens are off until Saturday night, when they take on Jaromir Jagr and the New Jersey Devils. It will be interesting to see what will go on at practice. Expect Desharnais and Pacioretty to remain together, although given Therrien’s line life span, that can most certainly change after the opening puck drop.