Buffalo Sabres showed aggression, resilience in loss to Montreal

This is the kind of loss that stings, but the Buffalo Sabres showed a lot of heart in a game where they just didn’t score enough points. 

The Buffalo Sabres sleepwalked through the final game of their four-game road trip on Tuesday night versus the Seattle Kraken. On Thursday night, it was a different story, as the Sabres did just about everything right in a tough loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

In this outing, the Sabres won just 43% of their faceoffs, something they have struggled with all season. But they finished the night one for four on the power play and logged off a sensational 45 shots on goal. It was a game where, on paper, the Blue and Gold outplayed the Habs; they just didn’t score enough in the most important statistic.

Buffalo Sabres have nothing to be ashamed of in loss

This is one of those losses where it is tough for a team to hang its head, much like the loss they suffered in the second game of the season to the Florida Panthers. In that game, the Sabres also played their hearts out in a 4-3 loss.

And you can say the same tonight, with Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault saving 43 out of 45, doing his best Eric Comrie against Edmonton impression en route to a narrow win. Even so, this is a game the Sabres can build on, having possessed the puck far more often in this one.

While they still need to get it going in the physicality and faceoff departments, the Sabres should have nothing to complain about. And now, it’s onto what should be an entertaining outing against the Chicago Blackhawks.

If the Sabres continue to create scoring opportunities for themselves like they did against the Canadiens tonight, they will eventually find the back of the net time and again. With just a few more tweaks, the Sabres will be winning these nail-biting contests.