Cody Franson Notches First Point With Buffalo Sabres
There are a lot of negative things that can be pointed out about the Buffalo Sabres’ 7-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.
Rough penalty kills, goals against nearly right off the draw, and a failure to take advantage of valuable power play opportunities are among the various things that can be pointed out as “minuses” for the Buffalo Sabres.
Of course, you have to also take into account that Montreal was bound to be a challenging team to face. The then 7-0, now 8-0 undefeated Habs have struck hard this season.
They’ve now scored 30 goals and allowed just nine goals against in eight games.
They’re quick, they’re sharp, and even without Carey Price in net tonight, the Habs were too good for the Sabres’ own good.
That being said, here are three Buffalo Sabres stars in the 7-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on October 23.
The Buffalo Sabres went 1/4 on the power play tonight, with O’Reilly scoring the lone goal with the man advantage for his second goal of the season.
In a game where the team as a whole really struggled with face-offs – a few of which led pretty much directly to Montreal goals – O’Reilly managed to win 62 percent of his draws.
Overall, O’Reilly played 16:15 ice time and had two shots on goal.
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2. Cody Franson
A few reasons here why I’m going to give Buffalo Sabres defenseman Cody Franson the second star after tonight’s loss.
Franson had his first point as a member of the Buffalo Sabres tonight, assisting on Matt Moulson‘s goal early in the second period. He also added another assist on Ryan O’Reilly’s goal, giving him two points on the season now.
He was one of a handful of Sabres players to not end the night as a minus (0) and had two shots as well as two hits.
Franson had one takeaway – one of three from the Sabres tonight, with Eichel credited for the other two. He played a total of 20:40.
1. Buffalo Sabres fans
I’ve got to give the first star to Sabres fans who stuck around and watched this game. Early on, it wasn’t bad at all. The Sabres looked like they were managing well enough, keeping up with an undefeated, impressive Montreal club.
At one point, however, the game just got away from them, and there was no coming back. It was downright painful, particularly with the crowd of Habs fans littering First Niagara Center with a sea of red and chants of “Ole, Ole, Ole.” But to those fans who stuck around — cheers for you.
The Sabres have a quick turnaround, hosting the New Jersey Devils Saturday night.
Next: Ristolainen Emerges Among Sabres D
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