Buffalo Sabres Knee Jerk Reactions: Montreal Canadiens
The Buffalo Sabres won their third straight game in a row; and the Montreal Canadiens reel from yet another loss. The Sabres were the bookend for the Montreal Canadiens week in hockey, defeating the Habs on either side of their victory over the New York Islanders.
Buffalo endured a rocky start to the game where they were turnover machines. The Canadiens should have been up by a substantial margin if it were not for the efforts of Ryan Miller.
The Buffalo Sabres got on the board first, with Thomas Vanek tipping a Christian Erhoff shot, this time with his stick and not his hip – while the Sabres were enjoying a two man advantage.
Complain about the penalty all you want – its not the first time the refs have blown a call, and won’t be the last. I didn’t see the play, so I can’t weigh in either way, everything I have heard says it hit the glass – too bad so sad, Montreal down by one.
A pretty passing play nets Thomas Vanek his second goal of the night in the waning seconds of the second period.
Montreal would make it interesting by netting a goal in the third, but Buffalo was able to hold on and come away victorious.
Key points from the game:
- Buffalo won the game in regulation. If the Buffalo Sabres want to take advantage of toppling teams in the East and reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they have to stop giving away the loser point.
- The Sabres are now only two points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but have played more games than any other team in the conference.
- Don’t panic, here come’s Thomas Vanek. With a two goal night – do we get to see another round of the Thomas Vanek Show? The team could use the offensive boost – and interim coach Ron Rolston probably wouldn’t mind bearing witness to one of those epic Vanek-five-point night.
- I expected more out of Nathan Gerbe tonight. He usually plays with a lot of fire and passion, and wasn’t happy about sitting out the Toronto Maple Leafs game as a healthy scratch. He didn’t do much in the lines of helping his case to stay in the lineup without another sit down.
- Did you miss Drew Stafford? Me neither. Is a trade in the works finally for the guy who openly said he would welcome a ticket out of Buffalo? Or is this just Ron Rolston getting another veteran player on the same page as the interim head coach, play, perform, or sit. Either way the future of the Buffalo Sabres looks good sans Drew Stafford.
- P.K. Subban took another lazy penalty that eliminated the Montreal Canadiens first power play. That is the third game in a row he took a penalty that cost the Montreal Canadiens.
The Buffalo Sabres are off for the next two days and next faceoff against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
