Falling Short

The Montreal Canadiens took on the Buffalo Sabres last night at the First Niagara Center. The Sabres who had not won a game in their previous 3 matches, would look to break their losing streak against the Canadiens who completely dominated them in a 6-1 victory on February 2nd.

• First Period
• To kick of the first period, Alexei Emelin takes away the puck from Tomas Vanek and leads the rush into the Sabres area. Passing it to Tomas Plekanec who would wrist one top shelf on Ryan Miller. With only 15 seconds after the goal scored by the Canadiens, Steve Ott would put one past the legs of Petr Budaj, the backup goalie for the Habs. The period would end in a 1-1 tie game.
• Montreal: 13 Shots On Goal
• Buffalo: 10 Shots On Goal
• Second Period
• Midway through the second period, the rookie Brendan Gallagher would receive a pass from Brandon Prust in the middle of the Sabres territory and wrists one over the glove of Ryan Miller giving the the Habs the 2-1 lead. With only 50 seconds gone since Gallagher's goal, Tyler Ennis was left unmarked and recieved some open ice towards the Habs net, he would snipe one through the legs of Budaj. The Habs on the power play with only 1:30 left to go in the second, PK Subban would slap one past Miller marking his second goal of the season. The Habs would lead 3-2 at the end of the second.
• Montreal: 12 Shots On Goal
• Buffalo: 18 Shots On Goal
• Third Period
• With only 45 seconds into the third, Tomas Plekanec would wrist his second of the night, giving the Canadiens a comforting 4-2 lead. Ryan White, who has been known to take bad penalties for the Habs, takes a 4 minute double minor penalty for fighting. The Sabres would convert on the power play bringing the game at 4-3. With only a minute left, the Sabres pull their goalie, clock ticking down with only 5 seconds remaining, the Sabres push for one more chance. An unbelievable effort results in a goal with only 2 seconds left to play. The Habs were left in shock as no one took advantage of the loose puck in the crease, Vanek saw it and poke checked it between the legs of Budaj. This game needed overtime!
• Montreal: 5 Shots On Goal
• Buffalo: 10 Shots On Goal
• Overtime
• A 4 on 4 overtime brought a couple of chances for both teams, but none could convert. The fans would get to see a shootout! 
• Montreal: 2 Shots On Goal
• Buffalo: 2 Shots On Goal
• Shootout
• Tomas Vanek (BUF) - Goal
• Alex Galchenyuk (MTL) - Goal
• Tyler Ennis (BUF) - Stop
• Rene Bourque (MTL) - Stop
• Jason Pominville (BUF) - Goal
• Brian Gionta (MTL) - Stop

As the Canadiens fall short in a 5-4 shootout loss against the Sabres, they do pick up a point, although 2 points would have been better. The Canadiens will face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night at the Bell Centre, the teams that opened the hockey season will put on another exciting show tomorrow night!