Tonight the Sabres picked up two huge points in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race, starting off hot on their way to a 4-2 win on the road in Montreal.

The Sabres opened the scoring in the first minute of the game, with Jack Quinn flying up the ice in transition on a two on one with Jason Zucker, who he passed it over to nicely for Zucker to cash in the one timer just 43 seconds in. Beck Malenstyn made it 2-0 Sabres with 5:02 left in the second period, taking on two Habs defenseman, going right to the crease and backhanding it in the net around Montembeault. Solid first period for Buffalo.

2:25 into the second period, Zach Benson gave the sabres a 3-0 lead with some nice work by the rookie Konsta Helenius getting the puck in front for Benson to try to tip in. Benson hit the pipe and then cashed in on his own rebound on the wide open net. Cole Caufield got the Habs on the board with a quick shot from the slot as Montreal drew the Sabres defense to the boards, getting the Canadiens back within two 3:55 into the second. Montreal made it a one goal game, with Nick Suzuki getting the rebound of a Zach Bolduc shot after a Buffalo turnover and finishing it off with a quick finish on the open net with UPL on the ice. The Sabres fell apart defensively on that, not really giving  Luukkonen a chance. That wasn’t a great period for us, as the Habs pretty much dominated that second. We looked very sloppy at times, not generating much offensively and looking lost defensively at times, but UPL was huge, making some big key saves to keep the lead.

The Habs pushed hard to tie up the game, but with 43.3 seconds left, Tage Thompson slid it over to Krebs for an empty netter from center ice to hit my prop parlay on this game and give the Sabres an insurance goal.

FINAL: Sabres 4, Canadiens 2

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Huge win for the Sabres tonight. The Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference Wild Card race is so tight this year that every point matters, especially picking up two against a divisional opponent on the road. Buffalo’s hot start carried them tonight, getting a 3-0 lead early in the second period. I didn’t think we played all that well after that, relying on a fantastic night from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to hang on for the win. Through the game, Montreal outshot the Sabres 34-17, pouring it on, especially in their comeback effort in the second period, but UPL was fantastic in goal, making some great, key saves in a 32 save, .941 save percentage performance.

Big win, let’s keep rolling as we head to Long Island for a matinee against the Isles on Saturday!

Let’s Go Buffalo!

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