Buffalo Sabres edge past Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in O.T.
Jason Pominville scored a power-play goal in overtime to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the HSBC Arena on Tuesday.
Tyler Ennis tallied a goal and had an assist for the Sabres, who have won two of their previous three play-offs, and also snapped a four-game skid. Ryan Miller was steady between the pipes, turning aside 29-of-30 shots in the win. Thomas Vanek also earned
two assists for the winners.
Buffalo Head Coach Lindy Ruff praised his team after the game. He said, "We played an excellent game - we played smart."
David Desharnais found the net for the Canadiens, who regardless of the loss have still gained at least one point in eight of their previous nine contests overall (6-1-2). Carey Price gave up two goals on 39 shots in the losing effort.
The Canadiens got on the board first to take a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in the sixth minute of the opening period. The play was set up when Mike Weber was in the penalty area for cross-checking. Roman Hamrlik, from the left point near the blue line,
let go a wrist shot to the net. Desharnais picked up the puck at the side of the net and redirected it past Miller from the far post for his second NHL goal.
Price turned aside another Montreal chance, when he blocked a Jochen Hecht set up in front of the net on a 2-on-1 break, halfway through the first period.
Buffalo answered with their first power-play goal to tie the game at 1-1 halfway through the middle session. It started when Hal Gill was called for slashing and Montreal survived a two-man disadvantage for 34 seconds. Then less than a minute into the 5-on-4
advantage, Ennis’ shot went through a goalmouth scramble, hit the netminder and bounced over his body into the net. Vanek and Tim Connolly assisted on the goal.
Sabres Centre Tyler Ennis stressed that his team had to build on the momentum from the win. He said, “It’s big, but we have got to have some consistency here. We’ve got to build off this.”
The final period was goalless, as both netminders saved all 11 shots they faced and sent the game in overtime.
With twelve minutes left in regulation time, Price stretched out his left leg to stop Nathan Gerbe’s slap shot directly off a face-off to the left of the net. Two minutes later, Price blocked Paul Gaustad’s shot with his left skate from the slot. Price then
got some assistance from Hal Gill, who got down on one knee to stop Rob Niedermayer’s effort to convert the rebound.
Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban said after the game, “I don’t think anybody has any reason to hang their heads in here. We got a point out of it.”
Ennis set up the winning goal in the extra session, as he drove up the right side and sent a pass to Vanek, who rushed toward the net and threw a blind pass into the slot. Pominville then collected the puck and one-timed it past Price.
The goal was scored on a power-play after Scott Gomez lost his cool with a retaliatory high-stick on Nathan Gerbe in the final minute.
An excited Ennis said after the game, “Gerbe did a great job getting the penalty to get that power play. When you get a chance in overtime like that, you have to bury it. It was big for us for Pommer to do that.”
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