Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Just like they did in Boston against the Bruins on Thursday night, the Buffalo Sabres competed very well on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.
However, instead of getting a win like they did against the Bruins, Buffalo could only muster one point in a 3-2 shootout loss.
Despite coming back from a 2-0 third period deficit, the Sabres lost to a goalie they had no business losing to.
Cayden Primeau came into the game with a career 4.02 goals-against average in 26 career NHL games. However, he made 46 saves, and two in the shootout to give Montreal the win.
What could’ve made the difference in this game is Buffalo went 0-for-5 on the power play with 10 shots on Primeau. Jeff Skinner mentioned it during his postgame comments, and I agree: The Sabres needed to bear down more on some of their power play opportunities. Chances that looked like almost sure goals turned into saves by Primeau.
In the first period, the Sabres had a 36-second 5-on-3 opportunity and got one shot on goal. In overtime, they had a 55-second 4-on-3 power play and could hardly even get the puck into the zone.
Montreal went 1-for-4 with the extra man, and scored both their goals 14 seconds apart.
During a 4-on-4, Buffalo got caught in a change and defenseman Jayden Struble noticed. He joined a rush with Johnathan Kovacevic, and Struble went to the net and tipped in his first NHL goal on his former Northeastern University teammate Devon Levi.
Just 14 seconds later, Nick Suzuki came through the right circle and went far-side to beat Levi with a power play goal.
Levi had his second-straight good game, making 29 saves at his end. He made the save of the night on Cole Caufield off a 2-on-1 that looked like it was going to be a layup goal.
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It was a good start for Buffalo after they gave up two very early chances on turnovers. They outshot Montreal, 17-7, in the first 20 minutes.
Buffalo took a penalty at 3:02 of the second period, and I thought they lost their way a little bit, spending much of the period in their own end.
Montreal produced 15 second-period shots on Levi, but the Sabres defended pretty well, and didn’t give up too many glorious opportunities except for Caufield’s breakaway.
The Sabres came out fast in the third period, and I thought dominated much of the play. It also resulted in two goals to tie the game.
The first goal saw Skinner come open down the slot, and Tage Thompson fed him perfectly, just enough to catch Primeau off guard.
Then on the game-tying goal, defenseman Connor Clifton did a terrific job of jumping up and stripping Justin Barron of the puck right in front of the Montreal net. Primeau stopped Clifton, but Kyle Okposo went hard to the net to scoop up the rebound for his 600th NHL point.
Unfortunately, the Sabres are already to the point where they can’t afford to lose to teams around them in the standings, especially when they badly outplay them.
Now, Montreal leads Buffalo by two points, and the Sabres are only tied with Pittsburgh.
Montreal has used two goalies with bad numbers this year, and came to Buffalo leaving with 3-1 and 3-2 wins. Jake Allen stoned them back in October.
I know many of you are probably asking, "Why couldn't the Sabres have played like this before Game No. 27?" It’s a legitimate question, but it doesn’t solve anything.
Now the challenge is making this type of compete and effort in their game on a nightly basis.
