Game Thread: MIller leads Sabres past Habs

Three time's a charm? The Montreal Canadiens will try again for their first home win of the season as they host the Buffalo Sabres. The visiting team won't make it easy for the Habs, having won their first two road games of the season, outscoring their opponents 7-4.

The two teams split last season's regular season series, with Montreal winning the first three and Buffalo the last three.

Tomas Vanek and Luke Adam lead the Buffalo squad in scoring, with 7 and 6 points respectively, in their first 4 games.

Ryan Miller is a career 19-8-5 against the Canadiens, with a 2.33 GAA and .921 save percentage. Miller's last appearance in Montreal was on March 22, where he recorded a shutout in the Sabres 2-0 win.

Quite possibly Habs coach Jacques Martin read Andrew Berkshire's analysis of his team's defense and made a minor adjustment on the blueline. Martin had Hal Gill paired up with Raphael Diaz, while Josh Gorges was matched with P.K. Subban.

Carey Price is 8-5-5 in his career against Buffalo (1.96/.937). He was on the hook for all three losses last season, but got little offensive support as his team managed just three goals. Peter Budaj is 3-1-0 with a 1.84 GAA and .933 save percentage against the Sabres.

Lineups after the jump.

BUFFALO SABRES PROJECTED LINEUP

Forwards

Thomas Vanek - Luke Adam - Jason Pominville

Nathan Gerbe - Derek Roy - Drew Stafford

Ville Leino - Tyler Ennis - Brad Boyes

Cody McCormick - Paul Gaustad - Patrick Kaleta

Defensive Pairings

Robyn Regehr - Tyler Myers

Jordan Leopold - Christian Ehrhoff

Andrej Sekera - Marc-Andre Gragnani

Goalies

Ryan Miller - Jhonas Enroth

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