Sabres can't complete comeback, fall 4-3 in shootout to Canadiens

Montreal, Quebec (WGR/WBEN) - In the first game of a rematch of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs this past spring, the Montreal Canadiens were able to outlast the visiting Buffalo Sabres, 4-3 in a shootout, on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

The two sides traded goals in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The Sabres struck first early in the first period, courtesy of defenseman Olen Zellweger. Zellweger's first goal in a Sabres sweater came thanks to a fortuitous bounce, as his point shot deflected in off a Canadiens defenseman.

With just over eight minutes left in the first period, Montreal appeared to have found its equalizer.

Up on the Montreal blue line, Sabres forward Josh Norris uncorked a no-look pass across the zone that was picked off by Canadiens forward Josh Anderson. Anderson and linemate Chris Kreider sprung the other way for a 2-on-0 rush, but goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made his case for an early "save of the year" to keep the Canadiens off the scoreboard.

Later in the frame, the Canadiens eventually solved Luukkonen.

The Sabres got in some penalty trouble, and had to kill off a minute's worth of a 5-on-3 Montreal power play. On the man advantage, defenseman Lane Hutson potted his first goal of the season with a clean shot through traffic that tied the game at 1-1.

Montreal boasted the only goal-scoring in the middle stanza with a pair of tallies to take a 3-1 advantage.

Doing the early damage was forward Cole Caufield. His third goal of the season - a one-timer - came just 79 seconds into the period, and was assisted by Juraj Slafkosvky and Nick Suzuki.

Then with 50 seconds left in the second, some poor puck management came back to haunt the Sabres.

Unable to exit their own zone, Anderson got even with Luukkonen after the goalie robbed him in the previous frame. The goal upped Montreal's edge, as the Sabres found themselves in "need a quick response" kind of territory with the third period imminent.

The Sabres were completely shut down in the second period, only registering two shots on goal.

However, the Sabres battled back with two quick goals just 1:01 apart to tie the contest at 3-3.

It started with Norris, at the 4:24 mark, throwing a puck towards the net with traffic in front of Canadiens goalie Jacob Fowler, and it bounced in off, yet, another Montreal defender.

Then moments later, Zellweger struck for a second time, as another point shot deflected off traffic in front of Fowler to tie the game.

That 3-3 score stood pat through the rest of regulation, and was preserved in the final seconds by Luukkonen, who made a crucial, sprawling save to ensure overtime in Montreal.

The extra frame solved nothing either, despite the best efforts from the two sides. Montreal had a handful of high-danger chances to boast, while Buffalo's best opportunity came when Josh Doan stripped Hutson of a puck for a chance at the other end. Right at the end of the rush, though, Hutson was able to track down Doan.

As for the shootout, it was not kind for Luukkonen and the Sabres. Montreal took it in the top of the third round, after all three shooters scored. It started with Caufield, whose goal was then followed by tallies from forwards Alexandre Texier and Zachary Bolduc.

Bolduc's goal ended the shootout, as Fowler had already made a save at the other end on Sabres winger Jack Quinn.

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SCORING RECAP

First Period:

BUF: 2:16 - Olen Zellweger (1) (Mattias Samuelsson, Beck Malenstyn)
MTL: 14:28 - Lane Hutson (1) PPG (Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield)

Second Period:

BUF: NONE
MTL: 1:19 - Cole Caufield (3) (Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki); 19:10 - Josh Anderson (2) (Lane Hutson, Zachary Bolduc)

Third Period:

BUF: 4:24 - Josh Norris (1) (Dennis Gilbert, Beck Malenstyn); 5:25 - Olen Zellweger (2) (Zach Benson, Mattias Samuelsson)
MTL: NONE

Overtime:

BUF: NONE
MTL: NONE

Shootout:

MTL: Cole Caufield - GOAL
BUF: Tage Thompson - GOAL
MTL: Alexandre Texier - GOAL
BUF: Jack Quinn - Save
MTL: Zachary Bolduc - GOAL

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STATS OF THE GAME:

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Bluestar Home Services Three Stars of the Game:

1.) Lane Hutson - MTL
2.) Alexandre Texier - MTL
3.) Olen Zellweger - BUF

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What's next:

The busy interdivisional week continues when the Sabres visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night. Puck drop at Scotiabank Arena is set for 7 p.m. ET with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call on WGR.