Buffalo forward Brian Flynn scored the tying goal and then added the winner in a shootout, as the Sabres beat the Canadiens 4-3 in Montreal Saturday, to claim victory in both ends of a home-and-home series.
Sabres' goaltender Jhonas Enroth shined once again, stopping 41 shots and then stopping all of Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais, P.A. Parenteau, Lars Eller and Tomas Plekanec in the shootout.
Habs' Coach Therrien praised Enroth for his impressive effort but also had kind words for his own players after the game.
“It’s disappointing to get only one of four points in the weekend games but we spent almost the whole game in their zone without being able to capitalize more,“ Therrien told reporters after the game.
Therrien was satisfied with the effort, if not the result. "We played some good hockey this wekeend. We've got to keep focusing on the performance and if we do, the results will eventually be there."
The Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens each scored a pair of third period goals to leave the teams deadlocked 3-3 into overtime.
Lars Eller and Max Pacioretty scored the third period goals for the Canadiens while Chris Stewart and Brian Flynn scored for the Sabres.
Pacioretty jumped on a rebound off a shot by Dale Weise to give the Canadiens the go-ahead go at 13:15 of the third period. But Brian Flynn scored on a Brian Gionta pass in the slot to return the teams to a deadlocked status less than one minute later.
Earlier the Montreal Canadiens were feeling the Groundhog Day blues as they relived the same frustrating script from the night prior that saw them fall behind 1-0 to the Buffalo Sabres, only tie it up, and then fall behind again.
But this time the Canadiens managed to get more than one regulation-time goal against the Sabres, as a Lars Eller pass into the crease deflected into the net after bouncing off the skate of Sabres' defenceman Nikita Zadorov to tie the game 2-2 at 7:31 of the third period.
Less than two minutes earlier Sabres' forward Chris Stewart netted the go-ahead goal after outskating Habs defenceman Bryan Allen to a puck and scoring past Dustin Tokarski at 5:57 of the third.
Habs winger Brendan Gallagher was deemed to have hit the post on the goal that made the score 1-1. But a lengthy video review determined that the puck narrowly crossed the goal line after bouncing parallell to the red stripe, as it caromed off the post to the left of goaltender Jhonas Enroth.
Gallagher's goal - scored at 7:51 of the second period and assisted on by Bryan Allen - was his sixth of the season, scored in a second period which saw the Canadiens getting most of the opportunities.
“It was probably the worst period we played in a while,” Sabres forward Matt Moulson said between periods in a televised interview with Hockey Night in Canada.
The Sabres, who beat the Canadiens 2-1 Friday night in Buffalo, duplicated the form which saw them giving up more shots than the Canadiens, but capitalizing by lighting the lamp first.
Zemgus Girgensons netted the first goal of the game after advancing on a three-on-three alongside speedy Tyler Ennis and Montreal-native Nicolas Deslauriers at 14:03, both of whom notched assists on the rebound marker past Dustin Tokarski from in close.
The Sabres got the quick break on the play after a David Desharnais pass to P.A. Parenteau was intercepted near the Sabres' crease.
The Canadiens have now only taken one of their last six possible points after a 5-0 decision against the Rangers was followed by the 2-1 loss in Buffalo Friday.
Habs forward Max Pacioretty left the game in the second period after taking a stick to the face from teammate P.K. Subban but returned later. Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers also briefly left the game after sliding awkwardly into the boards. Myers appeared to be labouring on the Pacrioetty goal.
The Canadiens outshot the Sabres 44-26 with Galchenyuk leading the Habs with six shots on net and Ennis tops on the Sabres with five.
Former Canadiens’ defenceman Josh Gorges missed his homecoming due to injury but former Habs’ captain Brian Gionta took a regular shift in spite of getting hurt the night before on a check by Alexei Emelin, who was fined the maximum allowable $11,021.51 by the NHL Discipline Committee Saturday.
The Canadiens now head out on a four game road trip, playing Monday in Colorado, Wednesday in Minnesota, Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks and Saturday in Dallas.
