Canadiens vs. Sabres Top Six Minutes: Montreal’s offence comes through in the third

First period

• Josh Anderson gets sprung on an early breakaway by Juraj Slafkovský it looked like he was going to take the puck too wide to get a shot, but he curled back to gain some space and got a backhand shot off from the slot. No goal, but a creative attempt as he tries to notch his first goal.
• One again, the passes are just an inch or two away from connecting for some really dangerous chances. Alex Newhook missed two or three on his own on his first shift.
• Excellent work from Slafkovský to strip the puck away and turn the puck up ice. He’s very confident that he will win those battles this season.
• Jayden Struble sweeps his stick to keep the puck in at the line and Ivan Demidov has some space to get a good shot off because of it.
• Buffalo can’t deal with Montreal’s pace, and we’ve seen that for at least half of the game in each match Montreal has played this season.
• Rasmus Dahlin puts together Buffalo’s first good offensive shift all by himself as he gets a couple of shots off and hits the post.
• Alexandre Carrier gets into a battle with three Sabres at the blue line to keep the puck in. He kicks the puck free to Newhook, who makes a touch pass to Demidov, whose shot is stopped, but Oliver Kapanen follows up to score his fourth of the season.

Calder Kappy gets the Habs on the board!

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— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) October 20, 2025 at 9:00 PM

• Struble has made a handful of nice plays in this game. He’s very noticeable.
• Matheson just stole the puck off Alex Tuch’s stick on a backcheck without breaking stride as he turned the puck back up ice.
• The Sabres decide to poke at Jakub Dobeš after he makes a save, and Slafkovský scores a takedown as he’s not having any of that.
• Suzuki drops the puck to Matheson on what was already a two-on-one. The top players are being too cute again. Just put the puck in the net.
• Hutson and Demidov play a game of keepaway with some lightspeed give-and-goes and the play comes close to being a goal-of-the-year candidate. It’s the first time we’ve really seen them work together like that.
• Not only are the Canadiens flying tonight, they’re actually getting shots out of it, with 14 in that period.

Second period

• The puck has been more on the boards to begin the second period, though the Habs are still managing to test Alex Lyon.
• Hutson and Demidov change that with another elite-level exchange.
• Then Buffalo scores at the end of the shift. Joe Veleno can’t corral the pass near the blue line, and seconds later Jiri Kulich ties the game.
• Montreal is right back to controlling the possession, but the zones aren’t as open as they were in the opening period. Buffalo has shored things up a little bit to offer some resistance.
• Brendan Gallagher gets a slashing penalty for trying to get to a puck Lyon is thinking about playing. I disagree with that call.
• Thanks to this power play, Buffalo has almost evened up the shots. Montreal needs to address how it defends now that you don’t have David Savard building a wall on one side of the crease.
• Montreal has just three shots in this period after 14 in the first, and two of those came in the opening minutes.
• The fans aren’t saying “Olé,” but Mike Matheson is as he sidesteps a stickless Josh Doan who charges him at the blue line.
• Gallagher does a reverse somersault at centre ice, possibly the most acrobatic thing he’s ever done in his life.
• Suzuki was doing what he wanted in the opening period, but now he’s getting surprised by the Sabres deciding to actually attack him and the puck is getting poked away from him.
• Shots 11-4 in the second for Buffalo. Not a strong period for Montreal.

Third period

• The Evans line comes out looking to shoot, and that’s good news.
• Already as many shots on target about 90 seconds in as in the second period.
• The sixth shot of the period comes off the stick of Slafkovský after a patient setup from Noah Dobson who dekes Lyon out of the crease at the goal line, and it’s into a completely open net.

The absolute patience by Noah Dobson to wait out Alex Lyon and put a puck in the crease for Juraj Slafkovsky Habs up 2-1!

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— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) October 20, 2025 at 10:39 PM

• Montreal took its foot off the gas and now has no shots since the goal. It’s okay to get a lead of two or three goals, guys.
• Caufield doesn’t see a pass he can make, so he dances around his man and draws a tripping call. It almost doesn’t need to be called because Struble rips a shot over Lyon’s shoulder, but off the post.
• Now we see the league’s best penalty kill in action.
• Bolduc gets a setup from Suzuki in space in the slot, but can’t get a good shot on the bobbling puck.
• Good to see that the focus on getting shots this period also extends to the power play.
• This game is showing that one of Demidov’s best skills is looking for the return pass immediately after dishing it off. He doesn’t end his involvement after making a play.
• The effort from this period pays off with another goal. Newhook gets the puck and thinks about turning it toward the net, but sees Hutson barrelling in from the point and lays it off to him. The sophomore fires it past Lyon for his first goal of the season.

Lane Hutson sneaks one through Alex Lyon and it's 3-1 Habs!

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— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) October 20, 2025 at 10:55 PM

• RDS shows Dobeš either practising his hand movements or miming a window washer coming out of the mid-period break. Knowing goalies, it was probably the latter.
• He takes a puck off the mask which pops a strap now. The crowd is chanting his name for making the save.
• Tyson Kozak quiets everyone down by reducing the lead to just one goal. Montreal is afraid of an advantage that big.
• Slafkovský goes after Thompson behind Buffalo’s net, and with Montreal leading late, that might not be a bad trade-off.
• Nick Suzuki blocks a point shot as the Sabres go six-on-five, clears the puck off the boards to the neutral zone, and Jake Evans, after a long shift, gets his first point of the season with the empty-netter.
• Montreal wins 4-2, and now has 10 points on the season to sit one back of the league lead.
• Off to the Western Canadian road trip.

EOTP 3 Stars

3) We need to get a work order on this exit

2) A Markov on a team that already has a Hutson. Pretty good

1) Now could you cook up some Jays runs?