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Sabres score shorthanded to defeat Canadians

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Sabres score shorthanded to defeat Canadians
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot
The Canadiens welcomed the Buffalo Sabres to the Bell Centre on Wednesday night. Jeff Skinner was probably happy to face the Canadiens, having scored 46 points in 41 games against the Tricolore since the start of his career.

Here are the lineups for both teams.

The Canadiens wasted no time in letting their attack show against the Sabres. The problem was that very few of their shots were actually on target. After 12:40 of play, only three Habs shots had hit the target, while three others were blocked by the defense and seven simply missed.

The fourth shot was the right one. What better way to open the scoring than with a bomb from Arber Xhekaj?

Faced with a confident Jeff Skinner who seems to score goals like he breathes when he faces the Habs, Samuel Montembeault needed some help. Fortunately for him, Mike Matheson came on at the last second and prevented a Skinner goal.

After 20 minutes, the Habs had a 1-0 lead.

The second period was all about goals. Sabres veteran Zemgus Girgensons took advantage of a good shot by teammate Henri Jokiharju to redirect the puck behind Montembeault.

Except the Habs wanted to impress in front of their fans. Jayden Struble scored his third career goal to give the Habs back the lead.

It was also his second goal against Buffalo, having foiled Devon Levi on December 9.

It was to be expected, but the Canadiens believed. Jeff Skinner scores

It was his 47th point in 42 games against the Canadiens in his career. They are the only team he has scored more than 37 points against in his career.

Arber Xhekaj had one of his best games of the season and even allowed himself a solid body-check to light up the Bell Centre crowd!

The Canadiens’ power play is producing well these days. However, it was a very tough game for the Habs’ five-man attack, which cashed in on an Alex Tuch goal.

After two periods, the Sabres had the lead for the first time in the game, 3-2.

The Canadiens had a mission in the third period: score a goal and prevent the Sabres from scoring another. It all started perfectly for the Tricolore, who allowed no shots on Montembeault’s net in the first 12 minutes of the period.

The Habs’ problem was that they couldn’t get past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

The Habs’ best chance came with less than two minutes to go in the third period, thanks to a power play. All they had to do was break through the Luukkonen wall. Unfortunately, the Canadiens stumbled and once again committed a turnover on the power play, forcing a penalty on Juraj Slafkovsky.

Buffalo won 3-2.

Montreal will be back in action on Thursday against the Penguins in Pittsburgh.


Overtime

– Caufield one goal away from reaching the 20-goal plateau for a third season.

– Happy birthday to Michel Lacroix!

– Defensemen are getting involved offensively.

– A great night for Joshua Roy.

– Nothing to brag about.

– Joshua Roy in funny company.

– Not her best.

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