Canadiens beat Sabres 4-3 in shootout after late collapse
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- Montreal beat Buffalo 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday night.
- The Canadiens led 3-1, then gave up two goals in 61 seconds.
- Caufield, Texier and Bolduc scored in the shootout to win it.
The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Tuesday night. The game took place at the Bell Centre in Montreal. It ended in a shootout.
A shootout is a tie-breaker with one-on-one shots.
Montreal led 3-1 after two periods. Then Buffalo scored twice in 61 seconds. The game went to overtime.
Overtime is extra time after a tie.
No one scored in overtime. So the game went to a shootout. Montreal won the shootout.
Cole Caufield, Alexandre Texier and Zachary Bolduc scored for Montreal.
Buffalo got only one shootout goal. Tage Thompson scored it. Montreal took two points.
Two points go to the winner of each game.
What happened
Buffalo scored first. Olen Zellweger scored at 2:16 of the first period. His shot went through a crowd of players.
Montreal goalie Jacob Fowler could not see it.
Montreal answered on the power play. A power play means one team has an extra skater. Lane Hutson scored at 14:28 of the first period.
It was his first goal of the season.
The goal gave Montreal life. The crowd got loud. Montreal went into the break tied 1-1.
Montreal took charge in the second period. Caufield scored at 1:19. Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki set up the goal.
That made it 2-1 for Montreal.
Josh Anderson made it 3-1 late in the period. He scored at 19:10. Hutson and Bolduc set up the goal.
Montreal led by two goals after 40 minutes.
The third period changed the story. Buffalo struck twice in 61 seconds. Josh Norris scored at 4:24.
Zellweger scored again at 5:25. The game was tied 3-3.
Two of the Buffalo goals had luck in them. Fowler said two shots changed path off his own man. Adam Engstrom was the defender.
The puck hit him and went in.
Montreal did not fall apart this time. The team held Buffalo to 17 shots in the whole game. That is a low number.
Montreal also killed every Buffalo power play. The penalty kill has now been perfect for two games in a row.
The power play scored its first goal of the season. Hutson got that goal. That was a small but real step forward.
Overtime brought more drama. Noah Dobson had left the game in the second period. A puck hit him in the face.
He missed the last 10 minutes of that period. But he came back in the third period. He helped the team hold on.
Late in overtime, Buffalo had a big chance. Thompson fired a hard shot. Alexandre Carrier blocked it with his body.
The block saved the game. Carrier put his body in front of the puck.
Then came the shootout. Caufield scored first for Montreal. Texier scored next.
Bolduc scored too. Thompson got one back for Buffalo. Jack Quinn could not score.
Montreal won 4-3.
Why it matters
This win felt bigger than one game. Montreal had let leads slip in recent games. The team had lost games after holding the lead.
Fans feared the same story again.
On Tuesday, the story changed. Montreal gave up the lead. But the team did not break.
The defence held firm. The shootout went Montreal's way.
The defence earned the praise. Kaiden Guhle played 25:25 in the game. That is a huge workload.
He also played 5:03 short-handed. Short-handed means his team had fewer skaters.
Guhle stepped up because Mike Matheson was out. Matheson has a lower-body injury. The team checks him each day.
He is one of Montreal's most used defenders.
Head coach Martin St-Louis praised Guhle after the game. He said Guhle plays a mature game. He keeps things simple.
He helps build plays too.
Carrier also earned praise. His late block in overtime was brave. His teammates loved it.
Fowler said the players rise up when they see such effort.
Hutson played more than 27 minutes. He scored once. He set up another goal.
St-Louis said Hutson has a fast ball tonight. He meant Hutson looked sharp.
The win also showed growth. Montreal gave up fewer good chances than before. The team gave up only 17 shots.
That is real progress for a young defence.
For more hockey, see our recap of the Bruins win over the Sharks. It was another night with lots of goals. The Blues also routed the Senators in their game.
In other sports tonight, Lamine Yamal set a Champions League record for Barcelona.
What happens next
Montreal plays again on Wednesday. The team visits the Washington Capitals. The game starts at 7:30 PM
Eastern time. It takes place at Capital One Arena.
Montreal will try to build on this win. Two wins in a row would help. The team needs steady play.
Matheson remains day to day. The team will check his injury again. Dobson should be fine after his return.
Carrier and Guhle will carry a big load again.
Fowler will take heart from this game. He said at least the team won. Some goals were unlucky.
But the result was good.
Buffalo will look to bounce back. The Sabres scored twice in a flash. But they could not finish the job.
They left Montreal with one point.
Montreal left the ice with two points. The team kept its nerve. The shootout win felt like a step forward.
The road trip goes on next.
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