Buffalo Sabres push past Montreal Canadiens
The Buffalo Sabres had no trouble on the road against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Both teams iced veteran line-ups, but in the end the Sabres proved to be better prepared, taking it to the Canadiens with 37 shots and earning a 5-3 win.
The Sabres iced their most veteran line-up to date and as they look to be very close to setting their roster for the regular season. Nevertheless, the club is still paying close attention to the play of both Nathan Gerbe and Luke Adam, who are battling for
the final forward spot. Buffalo elected to give rookie sensation Tyler Ennis the night off, while in between the pipes, the Sabres went with youngster Jhonas Enroth for the full 60 minutes.
The Canadiens went with a similar line-up to that of the Sabres, icing the majority of their veteran starters, while giving a couple of rookies a last chance to impress. Ben Maxwell and Ryan White were both in the line-up fighting for a final spot up front.
Montreal elected to give the full start to back-up goalie Alex Auld.
The Sabres wasted no time getting on the board, taking full advantage of a power play after Jaroslav Spacek was called for tripping. Thomas Vanek was able to strike first for the Sabres, as he picked up a Tyler Myers rebound in front of the net and slid
it past Auld.
The game did not see another goal until just over a minute into the second period when Luke Adam stole the puck behind the net and wrapped it around for an unassisted marker.
Montreal was able to strike back quickly, as Mathieu Darche threw a wrist shot past Enroth, cutting the lead to 2-1.
The Canadiens struck again less than two minutes later. This time defenseman Ryan O’Byrne threw a puck on net, which deflected off Sabres’ defenseman, Steve Montador’s stick and into the net.
The tie did not last long however, as Buffalo once again took advantage of the power play with a Tim Connolly goal. Connolly took a pass from Mark Mancari and snipped the top corner to give the Sabres back the advantage.
Buffalo’s Adam would then notch another halfway through the second, off a brilliant pass from Matt Ellis.
The Sabres put the game out of reach in the third period when Drew Schiestel put a wrist shot past Auld, to register the club’s third marker on the power play.
Montreal’s Tom Pyatt would add one just before the 10-minute mark, but it would not be enough as the Sabres cruised to a 5-3 victory over the Canadiens.
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