Tonight the Sabres started slow coming off their two big wins, and took a 4-2 loss in a Montreal in what turned into a pretty solid, fun game.
Montreal’s been such a fun team to watch to start this season, with electric play from their young talent. I think they’re gonna have a really good year and surprise a lot of people. So I didn’t expect this to be an easy game for the Sabres, even coming off their two big wins.
The Habs got on the board first for 8:29 into the first period, on a backhand in front five hole on Lyon by Oliver Kapanen in the midst of chaos in front of the net with the Sabres defense looking like garbage, not able to get the puck out of there. Montreal was absolutely the better team through that period, not letting the Sabres generate much and they generated a good handful of quality scoring chances. Buffalo got outshot 14-6, out-chanced 16-4, and out-hit 10-3. That pretty much sums out how poorly they looked.
Buffalo tied up the game 6:51 into the second period, with Jiri Kulich sliding the puck from the wall over to Benson nicely, who gave it back to him Kulich to slide in the net on an ugly looking backhand that didn’t leave the ice from a great play to set it up. Far better period for the Sabres on both ends of the ice, giving themselves chances and playing a much more even game with it knotted up through 40 minutes.
Montreal took the lead back on a beautiful play, with Noah Dobson coming around the back of net like a wraparound, sliding the puck through the crease for Juraj Slafkovsky to put in the back of the net, 2:57 into the third. Awesome setup, but that was also terrible defense by the Sabres. The Habs added to their lead with Lane Hutson making it a 3-1 game with 8:22 left in regulation, capitalizing on a horrendous clearing attempt by the Sabres. Buffalo answered back just 24 seconds later with Tyson Kozak getting the Sabres back within one, tipping in a Jack Quinn shot in the crease to make it 3-2 with 7:58 left to go. I liked the Sabres effort in trying to tie up the game, but Jake Evans capped off the game with an empty netter giving the Habs a 4-2 win at home.
FINAL: Sabres 2, Canadiens 4
The Sabres started slow, with Montreal dominating the first period, but after that, I thought Buffalo played pretty decent hockey to stay in the game and make it competitive till the end. We poured it on, but the Habs are a good team and held it off. We just got out-chanced 25-24, with the shots tied up 31-31. I think the Canadiens are going to have a fantastic season, and this was a pretty fun game to watch for the final 40 minutes.
Please follow me:
Instagram: @atownszone
Twitter: @atownszone
If you like the site and my work, share it with your friends!
… and tell Dave Portnoy to hire me at Barstool…
A Town's Zone 
One thought on “Sabres @ Canadiens: 10/20/25 – Game Reactions/Recap”