Montreal Canadiens Dominate Buffalo Sabres 5-1 to clinch Playoff Spot - NHL Update
It is certainly a great time to be a Montreal Canadiens fan right now as they dominated the Buffalo Sabres 5-1 to clinch a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after missing out on the postseason last time around.
The Canadiens are amazingly number two in the Eastern Conference now as they lead with 57 points and head the North Eastern division above the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators. Boston is just one point behind the Montreal Canadiens
and their next couple of games are highly important in this regard if they want to stay second in the conference.
"We were always confident in the group in our room," Canadiens’ star rookie, P.K. Subban said, according to NHL.com. "Sometimes it's tough. The one thing I've learned about playing in the NHL is momentum doesn't carry from season to season. It's built from
game one through 82 games, when we have a regular season. You've got to give the coaching staff and the organization credit."
Rene Bourque kicked off the scoring 6:43 into the matchup, followed by Alex Galchenyuk to take the lead to 2-0 at the end of the opening round of hockey action at the Buffalo Sabres Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.
Buffalo is still below the playoff line as they stand at number 11 with just 38 points and will need to win their remaining matchups if they have any hope of getting into the postseason race. The Sabres are also last in the North Eastern Division and are
on a two-game losing streak.
"It's a good accomplishment, but that's only a first step. That's the way we see it. And this is the way those guys see it too," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "And we realize that there's a lot of hockey to be played and there's more steps coming."
Surprisingly, Montreal’s defence was top quality as well since their goalie, Peter Budaj, only faced 15 shots on his net during the 60-minute matchup and easily blocked 14 of them for a near shutout. Canadiens had over 40 shots on the Buffalo net.
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