Canadiens vs. Sabres Top Six Minutes: Starting with a bang

Who’s ready for some hockey? Let me rephrase that, who’s ready for some HABS HOCKEY?!!! No more pre-season. No more predictions. No more patience. The puck has dropped, the season has started, and starting now anything goes.

First Period

• I wonder who’s going to open the scoring today? I bet it’s Pacioretty. It’s always Pacioretty.
• Ah yes, the refs quickly blow their whistles to stop a perpetrator in his tracks, halting a scourge on the modern NHL to call...a face-off violation. I like the NHL’s priorities.
• No slouches themselves, the Habs respond by gifting the Sabres with an equally dangerous delay of game penalty (courtesy of Ales Hemsky sending a puck over the glass).
• You know what? Screw penalties, screw penalty kills and most of all screw Pomwhateverhisfaceis. He’ll pay for breaking Price’s shutout bid this early into the game.
• It’s time to make a game by game meter called "Drouin at Center". In the red "Terrible Failure, Put in Chucky" and in the green "Second coming of Gretzky" - adjust the arrow accordingly after every game.
• So far, the arrow is strictly in "Second coming of Gretzky" territory. No pressure kid./

Second Period

• You know what Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews IS the next great American hope.
• Having to kill a penalty is hard, having to kill a two man penalty is absolute torture.
• If you haven’t acknowledged Carey Price as your lord and saviour yet, now would be the perfect time to do so.
• And if you needed anymore reason to hate the ginger Buffaslug, he goes and tries to decapitate Charles Hudon. (No, you are slightly exaggerating...)
• Ugh, is there a worse ignominy then getting outshot by the friggin Buffalo Sabres? /

Third Period

• Someone please remind the Habs that this isn’t the pre-season anymore.
• I bet you were so disappointed by that last period, that you didn’t even notice I had five bullet points for the second period instead of the usual six, did ya?
• Robin Lehner is definitely using some sort of illegal forcefield technology to prevent the puck from going in. He’s not this good of a goalie.
• Oops, spoke to soon: Lehner lett'n 'er in.
• It’s so weird seeing Charles Hudon up with the main club. I’d forgotten what it felt like have prospects actually graduate from the AHL.
• One point in the bag, one more to go./

Overtime

• See, 3-on-3 overtime is exactly why hockey is terrible for fans with cardiovascular diseases.
• Karl Alzner really needs to stop his Alexei Emelin impression.
• Missing a too many men on the ice call is par for the course for these referees, really./

Shootout

• Drouin’s goal warrants a re-watching or two.
• A win is a win is a win. Habs take home two points on opening night!/

Highlight of the night

Jonathan Drouin with the BEAUTY to win the game for the #Habs in the shootout. Wow. pic.twitter.com/Y4GYZPLkun

— Jared Book (@jaredbook) October 6, 2017

EOTP 3 Stars

1.  So you’re saying we have a chance?

2. You are not the only one.

3. Poetic.