Nathan Gerbe helps Buffalo Sabres beat Montreal Canadiens 2-0
Nathan Gerbe lit the lamp twice, including an empty-net goal, as the Buffalo Sabres cruised past the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 at Bell Centre on Tuesday night.
Ryan Miller was outstanding in net as he managed his fourth shutout of the season. Miller turned away 31 shots for Buffalo, who are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with 81 points.
Montreal captain Brian Gionta praised Miller after the game. He said, "He's a world-class goaltender and if you're going to score goals on him, you've got to get guys in front of him and get him moving and we just didn't do that tonight."
Carey Price played very well, but gave up just one goal on 22 shots for the Canadiens, who have won eight of their last 11 games and are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 87 points.
The first period of the game was scoreless, as Miller stopped 12 shots and Price made eight saves. Miller made a great save with his glove on Michael Cammalleri's shot with five and a half minutes left in the opening stanza. Montreal hit 12 shots on net,
while the Sabres had eight shots in the first period.
The Canadiens got an opportunity to score in the first period, when Scott Gomez sent a pass from the left side, but Gionta deflected the disc over the net.
The Sabres drew first blood for a 1-0 lead just nine minutes into the middle session. The goal came when defenceman Tyler Myers took control of the puck in the Montreal zone and swept a pass from above the right circle to the low slot, where Gerbe deflected
it into the net for his 12th goal of the season.
The Canadiens managed to create a number of opportunities against Miller in the last minute of the middle frame, but failed to score an equaliser. Miller stopped 10 shots in this period.
Canadiens goaltender Carey Price praised his opposite number after the game. He said, "You have to give Miller credit. He played well and they played well in front of him. In fact, both teams played well defensively."
Scrambling to tie the game, Montreal benched Price with 62 seconds left in the final period and attempted to set up the play in the Sabres zone, but Gerbe finished things off all by himself.
The play was set up by Gerbe himself when he made a diving poke to take the disc out of the zone. Then, he stripped Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban behind the blue line, grabbed the disc and slipped it down the ice into the empty net to seal the win at
2-0.
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