Buffalo (25-11-4) at Montreal (21-19-3)
The Canadiens hosted the Sabres for the fourth matchup between the teams this season. Entering the game, Buffalo led the series with a 2-0-1 advantage, outscoring Montreal 11-7.
The Sabres were coming off of back-to-back games in which they have overcome three goal deficits. They came in on a three game winning streak as they headed into Montreal. Buffalo has won four games in a row, four seperate times this season, and they had another chance to do it today. Buffalo has been outshot 62-20 in the first period of its last five games and 39-7 in its last three contests on home ice.
The Sabres played a much better first period than in recent games. Despite being outshot 10-6, Buffalo kept Montreal off of the scoreboard. Tim Kennedy was the only player to visit the penalty box, which he did twice. Buffalo killed off each of those penalties.
It took almost 30 minutes, but Buffalo struck first. Tim Connolly put in his own rebound for his 11th goal of the season. Jason Pominville and Jochen Hecht assisted on the goal, and the Sabres took a 1-0 lead. The Sabres outshot the Canadiens 15-9 in the second period.
Neither team was able to score in the third. Montreal had a number of chances late, but Ryan Miller came up big, leading the team to a 1-0 win. The Sabres have now won twice this season when scoring only one goal. The other time was against Nashville in the third game of the season.
Both teams ended the game with 30 shots, which happens to be Ryan Miller’s number. Miller earned his fifth shutout of the season as the Sabres improved to 16-0 when leading after two periods. Miller is tied with Ilya Bryzgalov for the league lead in shutouts with five.
With the win, the Sabres have now won four games in a row. They have now done that five times this season, but have yet to win five in a row. Buffalo will have a chance to do that on Wednesday when they host Tampa Bay.
The Sabres trail the Devils by three points for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Kevin "No Goal" Freiheit
sabres win again, this time 1-0...well done...btw friends, keep the trade scenarios flowing...some are cool...some are funny...all keep things interesting
this team's playing real well...as a team...lack of scoring is directly related to committment to defense...this team swarmed miller's net in his defense...something they've been doing for the better part of the schedule...as for the offensive side?...ruff's rolling four lines and all are contributing at different times
the only trade i would even consider is for a bonafide #1 center...next off-season, marleau will be available (ufa)...there may be others available also, dependent upon the cap...i really can't see regier doing anything to "bolster" the bottom-six or d (unless something freaky happens)...enjoy what miller, the d, and this team is doing...this is what we got (unless a darcy-trade comes along)
Ummm, the Sabres didn't host the Canadiens. The game was in Montreal.
why would you trade rivet, gerbe and a pick forrrrrrrrrrrrr...(essentially) rivet?...they're pretty much the same player...i'd bet that if you asked the players what they thought about rivet, nearly all would say that he's an integral part of the team and that losing him would be counter-productive
craig rivet has been instrumental in the quick-development of buts...next year, as a 2nd-pairing d-man, he'll be mentoring one of sekera--who's offense will benefit greatly from a d-man who has his back--or grags...at the end of rivet's contract, he'll probably be on the third-pairing in a teppo-role...no need to hate on the sabres d...last i looked, they've got one of the best gaa in the league