Post Game Five: Turning back the clock

They won’t be awarded style points, but the Montreal Canadiens found a way to escape Buffalo with two points beating the Sabres 3-2 on Monday night.

The win came at a cost, David Savard will be out indefinitely with an upper body injury. He blocked multiple shots on a penalty kill in the third period and didn’t play the final 8-minutes of the game. The shift itself was making the rounds on social media, it displayed a great example of sheer determination and sacrifice for the betterment of the team.

The Canadiens were outplayed by a Buffalo team that has underperformed this season. With the chaotic upcoming schedule, they’ll take wins any way they can get them.

Pluses:

• Jake Allen followed up his terrific performance against the Washington Capitals with an even better outing against the Sabres. Tough angle on the Jeff Skinner goal, but he settled in after that and at times stood on his head including in the second period when Montreal was severely outchanced.
• Brendan Gallagher scored for a second straight game and it was once again a typical Gallagher goal, right on the edge of the crease. The third line is developing chemistry with Sean Monahan and Tanner Pearson also having solid performances. But for Gallagher in particular has to feel good contributing while playing limited minutes.
• Justin Barron gave the Canadiens something they haven’t gotten so far this season, a goal from a defenseman. It was a nice shot after the puck found him at the top on the right circle.
• The points haven’t been there but Juraj Slafkovsky continues to stand out for all the right reasons. He was noticeable early, is getting a lot of touches on the puck and eventually the production will come.
• While the powerplay looks disjointed and unorganized, it’s still back-to-back games with a powerplay goal!

Minuses:

• Savard is the latest player to head to the injured list. That’s three injuries (two significant ones) in three games. Ouch!
• Another goal against the Montreal Canadiens for Jeff Skinner… What’s up with that?! He now has 24-goals against the Habs in his career, more than he’s scored against any NHL team.
• They handed the opposition another five powerplays, this early trend can’t continue.

The Montreal Canadiens gets right back at it tonight taking on Jack Hughes and he New Jersey Devils. Game time is 7:15pm ET with staggered starts around the NHL with the league attempting to pull of their own version of the NFL’s “Red Zone,” with what their calling “Frozen Frenzy.”