Montreal, Quebec (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres started the 2024 calendar year off very strong in Montreal with a 6-1 win over the Canadiens on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the teams combined for three goals in the middle stanza.
The first two tallies belonged to the Sabres, with each goals coming on the power play, a place the blue and gold have struggled to perform all season.
Casey Mittelstadt was the beneficiary of a pass from Jeff Skinner, as he buried his 11th goal of the season after being left all alone to the left of Canadiens goalie Jake Allen.
A little under a minute-and-a-half later, Skinner was on the receiving end of a nice "tic-tac-toe" passing play from Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead.
Before period's end though, the Canadiens cut their deficit in half with a shorthanded goal. Former Sabres forward Joel Armia's pressure forced a turnover of Rasmus Dahlin, and Armia beat goalie Devon Levi high over the glove hand.
Come the third period, the Sabres responded strongly to, what could have been, a deflating goal from Armia.
The blue and gold got a spark from winger Jack Quinn, whose strong play since returning from injury vaulted them to a 3-1 lead. The goal was Quinn's fourth goal in seven games.
The lead ballooned to 4-1 later in the frame when Skinner and Thompson played a game of "who can touch the sliding puck last?" Thompson won, and his reward was his 11th goal of the 2023-24 season.
Rasmus Dahlin put an exclamation point on, what is now officially, an All-Star season with an empty-net tally that spanned the entire length of the ice. Dahlin leads all NHL defensemen with 11 goals this year.
The Sabres weren't quite done there, though. Thompson added another goal late in the period on a nifty 2-on-1 rush with Skinner to put the finishing touches on a 6-1 victory.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: NONE
MTL: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 5:33 - Casey Mittelstadt (11) PPG (Jeff Skinner, Rasmus Dahlin); 6:59 - Jeff Skinner (16) PPG (Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson)
MTL: 13:19 - Joel Armia (5) SHG (Unassisted)
Third Period:
BUF: 6:45 - Jack Quinn (4) (JJ Peterka, Connor Clifton); 8:35 - Tage Thompson (11) (Jeff Skinner, Alex Tuch); 14:35 - Rasmus Dahlin (11) ENG (Casey Mittelstadt); 18:32 - Tage Thompson (12) (Jeff Skinner, Jack Quinn)
MTL: NONE
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Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Devon Levi - BUF
2.) Jeff Skinner - BUF
3.) Tage Thompson - BUF
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What's next:
The blue and gold wrap up their road trip in Pittsburgh on Saturday night with a matchup against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. EST with pregame coverage on WGR with Brian Koziol and Paul Hamilton beginning at 6 p.m. EST.