Game 8 – Canadiens vs. Sabres: St-Louis’ Choice

For the second time in five days, the Montreal Canadiens will be hosting the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre on Saturday night. The Habs skated away with two points on Tuesday, but they needed five minutes of overtime and a shootout to win. While it’s still early, it could be a worrying trend that two of the Tricolore’s three wins came outside of regulation, especially since they missed out on home-ice advantage in the playoffs last season because of their low number of regulation wins.

The two teams currently have eerily similar records; the Sabres have two more points, but the Canadiens have a game in hand. Buffalo won its last game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, storming back from a 4-2 deficit to win in overtime despite a Kirill Marchenko hat trick, while the Canadiens suffered a 5-4 regulation loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

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On Friday, Martin St-Louis didn't confirm who would be between the pipes Saturday night. In the last week, he seemed willing to go with the hot hand, but that doesn’t seem to be a foregone conclusion now. Since being recalled from the Laval Rocket following Samuel Montembeault’s injury, Fowler has been the better of the two healthy goalies. Given Dobes’ performance against the Capitals on Wednesday, it would make sense for the coach to go back to Fowler, unless, of course, he wants to show the Czech netminder that he still trusts him in an effort to help him build his confidence.

Fowler has faced the Sabres twice so far and has a 1-1-0 record against Lindy Ruff’s team, with an .833 save percentage and a 3.41 goals-against average. The three goals he surrendered Wednesday night came either through heavy traffic, or deflections, or both. Meanwhile, Dobes has a 3-0-0 record against the Sabres, with a 2.00 GAA and .937 SV, and helped the Canadiens eliminate them in the second round of the playoffs. Could the Sabres be just what the doctor ordered for the masked man to bounce back?

The Sabres still haven't confirmed their own goaltender. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was in net for the loss in Montreal on Tuesday, but he did help the Sabres win their last game. He’s also Buffalo's current number one choice, but his record against the Habs isn’t particularly impressive. He’s 2-2-1 with an .882 SV and a 3.71 GAA. As for backup Colten Ellis, he has a 1-0-0 record against the Habs, surrendering three goals in a 5-3-win last season and a .870 SV.

Up front, Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson each had two points against the Sabres on Wednesday, while captain Nick Suzuki added another point to his 26 career points against them. With his two-point effort earlier this week, Caufield brought his total to 18 points in 19 games against the divisional rival, while Chris Kreider still has 26 points in 41 games. Juraj Slafkovsky missed Friday's practice, but St. Louis said he would be available Saturday night, and it will be interesting to see whether Oliver Kapanen and David Reinbacher make their season debut. 

For the Sabres, Tage Thompson remains their most productive player against Montreal with 23 points in 21 games, followed by Rasmus Dahlin with 21 points in 24 games. Buffalo’s captain missed Wednesday’s meeting and remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, but he did not make the trip to Montreal. Josh Norris leads Buffalo’s top three with 13 points in 17 games, but the Canadiens should also watch Jack Quinn, who is coming off a four-point night against the Leafs.

The Habs have won seven of the last 10 meetings and will look to bounce back after a disappointing loss in Washington. The game is scheduled for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on Sportsnet East in English and TVA Sports in French.  Jean Hebert and Stephen Hiff will referee the game, while Tyson Baker and Jonathan Deschamps will serve as linesmen. 

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