2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series – Montreal Candiens win 2-1 against the Buffalo Sabres
The 52nd game of the 2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series took place when the Montreal Canadiens were up against the Buffalo Sabres. The game was played at the HSBC Arena this past Friday 7:47 local time. The Montreal Canadiens were playing in their
4th game and the Buffalo Sabres played the 5th game of the 2010 season. The game didn’t give us too many goals but saw the Montreal Canadiens score twine in the 2nd period to win the game 2-1.
1st Period
The 1st period saw both teams adopt a defence approach towards the game with the occasional chances. Neither of the teams was looking to attack with full force keeping in mind that both were very strong on the counterattacks.
The home crowd urged the Buffalo Sabres to score; they came up with good attacks but didn’t overdo it by any means. Both teams maintained a good defence with decent attacks when required.
During the course of the period, there was no extravagant play that could be the stand out moment of the period. However, there was fluency and smoothness in the way both teams played but they couldn’t come up with the final touch.
The period ended with both teams deadlocked at 0-0 as the home team made 8 goal attempts and the Montreal Canadiens shot 6 times at the opposing goal.
2nd Period
The 2nd saw the Montreal Canadiens change their strategy and play in a more attacking way and coming up with open chances.
Not only did the Montreal Canadiens manage to come up with regular attacks on the opposing goal but they maintained a tight defence throughout the period. The away team was observed coordinating and communicate with each other so that they could win the
game. They worked hard constantly trying to get past the opposing defence.
The Montreal Canadiens were rewarded for their hard work in the 2nd minute when they took the lead. The goal was scored by Alexandre Picard who hit a shot from 29 feet that found the back of the net while getting deflected on its way.
The Buffalo Sabres tried hard to level the score but the non-porous defence of the Montreal Canadiens made it impossible for them to score. They restricted the Buffalo Sabres to long range shots with the occasional slip that was cut off too if it looked
dangerous by the last defender.
With the period nearing the end, the Montreal Canadiens put the foot on the gas once again and scored in the 19th minute to establish a 2 goal lead. The goal was scored by Josh Gorges from a spectacular slap off from 44 feet.
The period came to an end with the Montreal Canadiens leading 2-0 scoring 2 goal after firing 12 shots, while the Buffalo Sabres couldn’t score though they made 7 shots.
3rd Period
The 3rd period was very unpredictable as there was constant shift in momentum every now and then. The home team was stronger during the early stages of the match as they scored and they scored in the 4th minute to cut the lead to one
goal.
The goal was scored by Derek Roy from close range with a decent wrist off shot. The predictability of the game sometimes made it feel as if there were more goals in the game but it was not to be.
There were no further goals and the Montreal Canadiens won the match 2-1 with the Montreal Canadiens making 10 goal attempts during the period. On the contrary, Buffalo Sabres scored 1 goal out of their 8 goal attempts.
After the win the Montreal Canadiens Head Coach said:
"The last two games, I wasn't pleased with how we played away from the puck,"
Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said. "I didn't think we had the commitment, and our intensity needed to be better. Tonight we stayed out of the penalty box, rolled four lines, and I thought that was a big difference."
The winning goal scorer Derek Roy said, "We had a couple of bad bounces and it seems like we've had bad bounces fall on us," Roy said. "We're getting outworked at home and that's unacceptable."
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