Game 80: Habs vs. Sabres

Buffalo 2, Montreal 1:

FIRST PERIOD:

- Still surprised that Julien is going with Price tonight. Just not worth the risk, even though the Sabres have little history of running opposing netminders. Anyway, Habs fans shouldn't expect a lot tonight, as the team I'm sure will be "don't get yourself hurt" mode tonight.

- Thankfully Steve Ott won't play tonight, Torrey Mitchell gets a start on the 4th line, his first in about 3 weeks. Brian Flynn, in a bit of a surprise, also gets a start tonight, his first in over a month. Martinsen sits.

- Dwight King, who really shouldn't be playing in the NHL, in particular a first place hockey team, somehow manages to miss a totally wide open net from 1 foot away with a backhander. I think that' pretty much sums King up.

- Brutal giveaway, guess who? It's Alexei Emelin rounding into post-season form, Ristolaninen makes it 1-0 Sabres.

- Sabres really aggressive around the Habs crease, bodies not afraid to make contact with Price. Really crazy for Julien to keep in him this game.

- So hard to pinpoint the glaring weak spot for a franchise as dismal as the Sabres, but if I were to start an overhaul/focus, pretty tough to not argue their defence, which currently is incredibly slow and soft around their crease.

- Habs being a little too focused on setting up the perfect play, perhaps in part because of a desire to avoid physical contact. It's made for a relatively quiet period for Lehner.

- Not exactly thrilling hockey, Sabres playing out the string, Habs just prepping up for next week - the Canadiens had balance of offensive pressure in that period, largely because their lineup is vastly superior to Buffalo's slim pickings. Still, at some point the Habs are going to have to drive Lehner with a little more aggression if they want to make any scoreboard impacts - Lehner has always been apt to give up rebounds. More traffic around the Buffalo net ought be the focus from here on out.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Even split 1st period, Habs CF right at 50%:

- Danault line has been very good gaining and holding possession in the Sabres zone, not so good at taking the damn shot.

- Lehner still giving up those rebounds, Danault line still dominating the Sabres zone, but not enough traffic around the crease.

- Hate playing nowhere teams like the Sabres at this point of the season. Nobody in Buffalo's lineup cares about discipline, so hacks and slashes are the norm, not the exception. Chances of an important Habs forward getting hurt rise exponentially.

- Habs the better team this period, except for finishing plays. Ennis roofs a wrister from 20 feet, as Lehkonen, turned the wrong way, coughs the puck up in front of his net, and Nesterov ... almost appeared as though he forgot which colour jersey he's wearing. 2-0 Buffalo.

- Alexei Emelin, who was mainly responsible for Buffalo's first goal, makes yet another pointless hit attempt at the Sabres' blue line, misses complete, and gives Buffalo big 2-on-1 break, forcing Price to make another difficult save. Emelin just never learns. He keeps making the same stupid mistakes time and again, and never learns, never corrects, never improves. He is the personification of insanity.

- Can't say we didn't warn you Claude. This is crazy:

Price takes a stinger to the shoulder, looks decidedly uncomfortable. pic.twitter.com/g79ossCj2Q

— Paul Campbell ❄️ (@WayToGoPaul) April 6, 2017

- Habs again the better team, at least with possession and controlling the flow, but far too casual finishing their scoring opportunities - in particular the Danault line, which is having a field day gaining the Sabres zone, but little to show other than pretty passing plays. Habs also guilty of defensive breakdowns - Nesterov and Emelin the biggest culprits tonight, Davidson also struggling, largely because of his partner's (Nestrov) positional inabilities. Meh. We figured the night might end up going this way - as long the Habs can get through the night without injuries, we'll gladly take the loss and go home.


THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs might have more puck possession time in the Sabres zone tonight, but where they're taking shots from has been pretty bad. That's been the difference tonight, really.

- Sabres with poor zone coverage off a Habs breakout, with Radolov making a nice feed to Plekanec, who stakes around Lehner to backhand the Habs first goal of the night. Buffalo's defence - a disaster.

- Speaking of disasters, what the heck is Nathan Beaulieu doing chasing over to Jeff Petry's side of the ice to make a useless failed check? With Beaulieu's cardinal error leaves Ennis completely unmarked, meaning Price is forced to make a breakaway save. Beaulieu continues to be an enigma.

- Emelin is apparently hurt - forcing Julien to give extra shifts to Petry, and likely more shifts than he'd like to both Davidson and Nesterov.

- Beaulieu's really struggling - fighting the puck and having a tough time identifying his marks. Habs defence limping to the finish line here.

- Hey, Brendan Gallagher just drew (another) penalty! Did that Tuesday night as well. Habs first powerplay of the evening.

- Emeln out for the night! Lower body injury. Under normal circumstances I'd say addition via subtraction, but not tonight.

- Quiet 3rd period for the Danault line. Sabres have made a few adjustments to keep that line, in particular Radulov and Pacioretty, in check.

- Just over 3 minutes left, Habs pushing the play, but lacking any form of intensity or desperation. Refs also steadfastly refusing to call obvious interference infractions this period, which has also limited Canadiens' ability to convert their chances.

- Just not a good night for the Habs blue line - misjudged plays, poor passing and missed shot opportunities. Hate to say this team really needs Weber and Benn back at this point of the season, but Canadiens not nearly as dangerous at the backend with them out of the lineup. It's also been a significant difference maker tonight.

- Beaulieu misses a pretty pass from Radulov which would have set up a shot into an empty cage. One of those kind of nights for Beaulieu.

- Oh well, Sabres win on fan appreciation night, so happy for them. Habs didn't suffer any huge debilitating injuries, except for Emelin, and who knows if that's really debilitating as far as the Habs defence is concerned. Danualt line just couldn't find a way of converting their opportunities tonight, while fundamental errors confounded the Canadiens, especially by Emelin and Beaulieu, who both struggled most of the evening. Habs now make one final visit to Joe Lewis to play another meaningless game - maybe they can donate another 2 points to help make the hometown fans feel good.



GAME PREVIEW: IF YOU'RE NOT WATCHING TONIGHT, WE UNDERSTAND

The Habs, in the middle of mopping up the rest of their regular season, take on the Sabres tonight in Buffalo. It'll be the final game of the season for the Sabres, as they wrap up their 4th consecutive season of last-place hockey.

The Canadiens have literally nothing to play for - they cannot finish anywhere other than 1st place in the Atlantic Division. Ergo, it comes as little surprise today that coach Claude Julien announced that both Shea Weber and Jordie Benn, who are dealing with "minor" undisclosed injuries, aren't likely to play again until the 1st game of the playoffs, which start on April 12th at the Bell Centre.

So here are your starting lineups:

Pacioretty/Danault/Radulov
Byron/Plekanec/Gallagher
Lehkonen/Shaw/Galchenyuk
Martinsen/Ott/King

Markov/Petry
Emelin/Beaulieu
Davidson/Nesterov

And over on the Sabres' side:

Kane/O'Reilly/Gionta
Foligno/Eichel/Reinhart
Ennis/Rodrigues/Nylander
Deslauriers/Girgensons/Moulson

Kulikov/Ristolainen
Flak/Borgosian
Gorges/Franson

It's Roben Lehner (2.70/.920) against (for reasons that I don't quite understand) Carey Price (2.20/.924)

Puck drops at 7:40 EST.

Game 48: Sabres vs. Habs

Buffalo 3, Montreal 2 (OT)

FIRST PERIOD:

- Lehner gets the start - obviously Sabres not comfortable starting Nilsson back-to-back nights. 

- Predictably tight start, the Sabres doing a good job in their own zone, as per what we mentioned before about this team having strong 1st periods this season.

- Rasmus Ristolainen, who played a mind-boggling 35 minutes last night, his numbers clearly scaled back if first half of this period is any indicator. Roughly on track for 8 minutes this period.

- Good zone entry for Galchenyuk carrying the puck, covered by the defenseman, he dishes the puck off to his left to Andrighetto, which eliminated a scoring chance. While it looked like a poor play, it was his only option because the fellow who was supposed to give him a proper outlet, Andrew Shaw, was lagging far behind at centre ice. That's a pretty good example of how putting Galchenyuk next to guys like Shaw take a pretty potent quiver out of the Habs bag.

- Max Pacioretty is gonna have bad dreams about how he somehow didn't put the puck in an open net - twice. Beautiful play by Radulov to drive the net and dish him the puck for what was a slam-dunk goal.

Great save by Lehner + missed chance for Pacioretty pic.twitter.com/kh09B3ZX0L

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 22, 2017

- Danault line playing pretty free-wheeling hockey so far - generating some pretty fast zone entires, but also coughing up the puck more than you'd like to see. Sabres are getting good scoring opportunities while they're on the ice.

- Lot of attention this week about Alex Galchenyuk being "off" since his return, which is a line I'm not really buying - his speed and physicality is as good as it ever was. Someone who has genuinely been struggling since his return? Paul Byron. Legs aren't there, passing is off ... not nearly the same (very good) Byron before he went on the IL.

- Such a terrible call on Radulov for hooking. You can't penalize someone in the NHL for lifting a stick, but that's what he's been sent to the box for.

- Even steven first period of hockey - Sabres, with that suspect defence, doing a pretty good job in their zone, only a couple of broken plays that the Habs failed to capitalize on. Galchenyuk looks fast - I wonder how much longer Therrien is going to stubbornly keep him mired next to Shaw on that 3rd line. Hopefully not much longer, because the Canadiens are sacrificing plenty of offence not having him up the middle between Pacioretty and Radulov.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Pretty even period, Sabres with more shots on goal, but scoring chances and shooting attempts were pretty much even:

- Habs massive push creates an eventual Sabres defensive breakdown, with Lehkonen skating to the low slot to receive the puck and fire it top corner past Lehner. That's Buffalo's story this year - defence makes too many avoidable errors that eventually costs them games.

- Here's a pretty good illustration of my last point - Lehkonen basically goes unmarked. It's a relatively easy goal.

Byron gains the zone, Lehkonen goes to the net and capitalizes on the rebound for his 11th goal of the year. pic.twitter.com/bFqJAgLysT

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 22, 2017

- Habs respond with their own version of clunky defence, Petry falling and Beaulieu just lost in front of Price, Gionta knocking a loose puck home to tie the game.

- Danault tips home a pretty hard Petry shot from the line to give the Habs a 2-1 lead. Again, the Sabres defence not doing a very good job guarding their crease. 

- Sabres defense gets slower and slower as the game proceeds - it's plain as day. Habs are getting increasing scoring chances as the game progresses.

- So the Habs have just scored, and they're pouring it on, Sabres are clinging to life in their own zone, and then ... enter Alexei Emelin to take an absolutely stupid penalty, hitting Moulson from behind into the boards. Does he actually think while he plays? Science would say probably not.

- An untidy period, but not bad from the Habs perspective. They had tons of momentum after Danault scored to give them a 2-1 lead, but that was pretty much single-handedly ruined by Emelin's dumb board. After that, the Habs mojo just seemed to slip away, much of the rest of the period consisted of broken plays and poor passing. Canadiens have no good reason to not put this game away in the 3rd period - we'll see.

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs markedly better team in the 2nd period, which we kinda figured would happened in our pregame analysis. Still, the Sabres are hanging tough.

- Zach Redmond. Oy. Sabres come literally within an inch of tying the game, largely because of his wretched puck handling. 

- Sabres are just putting the puck on net - which is fine - you never know what might happen. Maybe a huge fluke, or Price whiffs, and the game is tied. But you still have to have structure, you still have to focus on generating shots from good spots. Sabres aren't really doing that right now, even though they're running up the shot clock.

- Thomas Plekanec. Is there anyone with a slower shot in the NHL?

- Not crazy about the Habs approach in this period - defence being far too passive, which is allowing the Sabres to gain the zone with a fair amount of speed. Seems like the Canadiens are attempting to sit on this 1 goal lead for an entire period. Folly.

- Finally Habs finding some legs and being a bit more aggressive, Byron and Lehkonen doing good work creating decent scoring chances, Lehner keeping his team alive. 8 minutes left.

- Wow, Franson of all guys ties the game with a seeing-eye shot from the line off the draw. O'Reilly beating Plekanec badly off the draw. And so the Habs can't hold the lead. We figured.

- Nathan Beaulieu is kind of a mess right now, and I think it's mainly a confidence issue.

- Carey Price with two incredible saves with seconds on the clock to prevent the Sabres from winning the game. We doubted his abilities? Doubt no more.

- Canadiens played a very passive 3rd period, going through the skating motions, and doing a pretty horrible job checking Buffalo. Sabres will be delighted to take at least a point out of this one, and given how much they dominated the 3rd period, would be just to take the extra point.

OVERTIME:

- So will the Habs go through the motions to try to get to a shootout?

- Habs have total puck control the first 1:30, Robin Lehner with possibly the best save of the year in the NHL, totally robbing Galchenyuk. 

Lehner makes a ridiculous save of his own!! pic.twitter.com/2M8mr4NMkP

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 22, 2017

- Hah, Bogosian with the game winner off the goalpost, his first goal of the year, if you can believe it, and just seconds after Lehner's incredible save. What can ya do? 

- Final analysis, that Lehner save will be of legend - it's probably going to be the best save by a goaltender for the entire year, and arguably, that's one of the most spectacular saves of all-time. But then it's a save that really shouldn't have happened in the first place, as the Habs could have snuffed the Sabres out in the 3rd period, but instead, sat back, and let Buffalo take over the game, as this possession chart indicates:

The turning point? Well, one might say the start of the 3rd period moving forward, but I'd harken back to the stunningly stupid penalty committed by Emelin in the 2nd period, right smack when the Habs were taking it to Buffalo, pinning them in their own zone, and narrowing in on what would likely have been a game-killer 3rd goal. While the Habs killed that penalty, they never really seemed to regain that momentum and pressure. It's stupid, selfish decisions like the one Emelin committed that go well beyond him spending two minutes in the penalty box - from a wider perspective, it's events like that which can rip victories from hands and turn them into defeats.

HABS/SABRES GAME PREVIEW: CAN THE CANADIENS EXPLOIT BUFFALO'S SLOW DEFENCE?

A few bullet points to help guide you through the game tonight were the Habs seek to maintain their comfortable lead atop the Atlantic Division, as they host the last place Buffalo Sabres.

- Sabres are coming off a 3-2 OT win last night over the Red Wings, yeah - the same Wings that the Habs could barely muster up a scoring chance against on Monday afternoon. Since the start of the new year, the Sabres have actually played some half-decent hockey, winning 5 of 9 games so far, including victories over the likes of the Stars, Flyers, Jets and Rangers.

- Buffalo doesn't have very many core strengths - on average each game, they give up too many shots (31, 5th worst in the NHL), but they have received some pretty good goaltending this season from backup Anders Nilsson and first stringer Robin Lehner. With a team .918 Sv%, the Sabres have the 5th best goaltending in the NHL.

- The Sabres big downfall this year? Mainly it's their defence. In particular, how their defence plays as the game progresses. This season, the Sabres have given up 28 first period goals, which is quite good (5th best in the League). However as the game progresses, Buffalo's blue line becomes increasingly disorganized. Second period goals surrendered: 47. Third period goals surrendered: 42. Add 'em all up, and you have a Buffalo team with a winning percentage when leading after 1 period of just .600, and when leading after 40 minutes, .733, 7th worst in the NHL.

- Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe was injured last night, so youngster Casey Nelson was called up from the farm. He'll play on the Buffalo 3rd D line.

- Sabres lineup tonight? Sure, no problem:

Emmins/O'Reilly/Okposo
Foligno/Eichel/Reinhart
Kane/Girgensons/Gionta
Carrier/Cal O'Reilly/Moulson

Bogosian/Ristolainen
Falk/Fedun
Nelson/Franson

Starting in goal? Uncertain. Lehner gets the bulk of starts, but he did get a rude yank on Tuesday night, so ... Nilsson?

- Habs lineup will essentially be the same as last night's, with Carey Price this time getting the start.

- Keys for the Habs? Use speed. The Sabres blue line is sluggish at best, downright slow at worst (in particular the Nelson/Franson pairing). If the Canadiens can generate a decent number of centre ice turnovers, and execute carrying the Sabres' zone, they should be in good shape tonight, regardless of who's in goal for Buffalo.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.