Game 16: Montreal Canadiens @ Buffalo Sabres
Start time: **12:30 PM EST / 9:30 AM PST**
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Sabres region: MSG Buffalo
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
It has been a rough period in Buffalo Sabres history. Their rebuild was supposed to get kickstarted with the selection of Jack Eichel at second overall in 2015, but injuries and years of the star player receiving little roster support derailed those plans, eventually driving him to ask for a trade. Eichel has since won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sabres, who dreamt of him parading it around the city of Buffalo when they drafted him, haven’t even played a post-season game since 2011.
With a larger collection of talented players now, the franchise is showing signs of turning things around. They finished the past two seasons with winning records, missing the 2023 playoffs by a single point. Despite a difficult start to this season when they were swept in two games played in Prague and then lost their home-opener, they’ve only failed to earn a point in four games since, riding a current three-game winning streak to a .500 record and very much in the mix in a weakened Atlantic Division.
Lindy Ruff is back behind the bench after being in charge for the organization’s last post-season appearances. Those were first-round losses in 2010 and 2011, but he had helped take the team to the Eastern Conference Final in 2006 and 2007, and general manager Kevyn Adams is hoping for a return to that former glory.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Sabres |
|---|---|---|
| 4-9-2 | Record | 7-7-1 |
| 46.4% (26th) | Scoring-chances-for % | 50.1% (16th) |
| 2.30 (23rd) | Goals per game | 3.27 (13th) |
| 4.07 (32nd) | Goals against per game | 3.07 (11th) |
| 22/0% (13th) | PP% | 15.6% (26th) |
| 80.8% (15th) | PK% | 77.8% (18th) |
| 2-2-0 | Head-to-Head Record (23-24) | 2-1-1 |
The team is playing well enough at five-on-five to hold itself in the running. They’re in the middle of the pack when it comes to expected-goal and scoring-chance shares, and that’s good enough when the aim is a wild-card spot. They would like to improve their special-teams play, however, as they rank in the bottom half of the league on the penalty kill, and are only scoring on a about one of every six power plays they receive. They currently have the right recipe of scoring more goals than they allow, but more scoring on the man advantage would make that less of a struggle each game.
To that end, Adams has reportedly expressed his desire to add to the roster to help fix those issues. He doesn’t want to see the team come up just short for the second time in three years, and has plenty of cap space to make something happen.
Kent Hughes thought the Canadiens were in a similar position going into this year, and his response was to acquire Patrik Laine to address the power-play issues. Montreal led the league in one-goal games a year ago, and the addition of an elite shooter was to be the difference-maker.
It seemed like Montreal was going to skip the frustrating phase of a rebuild taking a step backward, as the other bottom-half teams in the Atlantic have experienced, but the Habs are undoubtedly dealing with that situation right now. The power play is currently the least of their problems as they struggle defensively, and even though many of the same players are still on the ice, nearly all of them are well off their performances from a season ago.
The Sabres and Canadiens were supposed to be in a season-long battle that features about six teams in the division for the final post-season spots. Buffalo is meeting those expectations, but right now the Habs are just hoping to avoid a seven-game losing streak to one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference and pull themselves up off the floor of the NHL’s basement.
