In their first game at the Bell Centre since December 16th, the Montreal Canadiens struggled against the Buffalo Sabres.
GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 1 vs Buffalo Sabres 6 | FINAL
Buffalo Sabres defeated the Montreal Canadiens 6-1.Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
17 Josh Anderson - 91 Sean Monahan
11 Brendan Gallagher - 71 Jake Evans - 56 Jesse Ylonen
55 Michael Pezzetta - 13 Mitchell Stephens - 40 Joel Armia
Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 58 David Savard
21 Kaiden Guhle - 52 Justin Barron
47 Jayden Struble - 54 Jordan Harris
26 Kovacevic
Goaltenders
Starter: 34 Jake Allen
Alternate: 30 Cayden Primeau
Out of the lineup
Scratches: Gustav Lindstrom, Sam Montembeault
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Rafael Harvey-Pinard (lower body), Alex Newhook (lower body), Tanner Pearson (upper body), Christian Dvorak (upper body)
Game Report
It was a big night for a Montreal-native making his debut at the Bell Centre. Unfortunately, Devon Levi was manning the crease for the Buffalo Sabres. Levi made 32 saves enroute to his eighth win of the season and his first in the city of his birth.
Despite a shot-happy (28 shots) first period by the two teams, it was scoreless after 20 minutes. Early in the second period a Joel Armia goal was disallowed after review due to goaltender interference by Michael Pezzetta.
Armia eventually scored a second period goal that counted, but not before Casey Mittelstadt and Jeff Skinner had staked Buffalo to a 2-0 lead on two power play goals.
Skinner went on to have a four-point night with a goal and three assists. That totals 29 points in 16 career games for Skinner against the Canadiens while he has been a member of the Sabres.
The Canadiens wilted in the third period allowing the Sabres to score four times, including an empty-net goal.
Nick Suzuki blamed the loss on poor puck management. His team struggled on the forecheck and turned over too many pucks. Despite a short-handed goal, Montreal also came up short on the penalty kill giving up two goals on four Buffalo opportunities.
Game Statistics
Canadiens (16-17-5)
Shots: 33
Face-off %: 54.0
Power play: 0/3
Penalty minutes: 12
Hits: 14
Blocks:14
Sabres (16-19-4)
Shots: 38
Face-off %: 46.0
Power play: 2/4
Penalty minutes: 10
Hits: 10
Blocks: 17
Scoring Summary
Canadiens Scorers
1st period: --
2nd period: Armia (5)-SHG
3rd period: --
OT: --
SO: --
Sabres Scorers
1st period: --
2nd period: Mittelstadt (11)-PPG, Skinner (16)-PPG
3rd period: Quinn (4), Thompson (11), Dahlin (11)-ENG, Thompson (12)
OT: --
SO: --
Goaltenders
MTL: Allen (L) 4-8-2
BUF: Levi (W) 8-6-2
Canadiens Players of the Game
Joel Armia - Armia beat Devon Levi twice in the game but was credited with one goal as Michael Pezzetta work in the crease ensured that the first one was disallowed.
Video Highlights
Post-game Quotes
Sean Monahan
"I think we were flat. We weren't at our best. We gave them too much time and with talented players, we can't do that."
Nick Suzuki
"I think our forecheck was a little off tonight, we were managing the puck poorly, turning pucks over, all the stuff that hurts you."
"It was breakdowns by us on the P.K. and we didn’t really have our game tonight."
Up Next
The Canadiens have lost four of their past five contests.
The Canadiens will look for a better effort on Saturday against the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre.
Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.
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