Buffalo Sabres make late comeback, edge Montreal Canadiens in shootout 3-2 -NHL Match Update
Montreal had all the time in the world to either maintain or extend their second period lead going into the third and final 20 minutes but the Buffalo Sabres made a strong comeback and routed the Canadiens, 3-2, in a shootout on Monday night, November 14,
2011, at the sold-out Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Buffalo Sabres had their four-game winning streak disturbed with a previous loss against the Boston Bruins, but have now countered back to improve their record to five wins in the past six contests.
The Sabres were playing without their veteran goalie, Ryan Miller, who sustained a concussion after being hit by Boston Bruins forward, Milan Lucic, during their matchup. Hoping for a suspension, Buffalo players were certainly disappointed on hearing that
the league’s disciplinarians did not award one.
"It was a little bit disappointing", said captain, Jason Pominville, "Obviously, us, being on the side where the goalie gets hit, we would have liked to have action taken, especially that Ryan is going to miss time. At the same time I'm sure they have their
reasons but we have our reasons, too, to think that it might open the door to other things to happen”.
Both teams had an opportunity with an added man advantage during the first period of regulation but failed to capitalise on it.
Erik Cole opened the scoring with his fourth of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season during an early power play opportunity as Buffalo’s Paul Gaustad was booked for roughing Montreal’s Aaron Palushaj.
Max Pacioretty followed by a goal of his own with less than six minutes to play in the second to extend the lead and force an intense third round competition.
Buffalo made their comeback in the third and final period as Jason Pominville fired off only 53 seconds in and it was Derek Roy that levelled the contest a little over midway through, forcing an uncertain overtime extension.
Failing to score in OT, both teams entered a shootout. Thomas Vanek scored on Buffalo’s first attempt after Montreal missed on theirs. Luckily, Montreal came back as Pacioretty scored on his own chance but as Brad Boyes scored on the Sabres second straight,
Brian Gionta failed to level it on the Canadiens last opportunity.
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