The Montreal Canadiens had beaten the Buffalo Sabres in the previous game they had played when the two teams reconvened at the Bell Centre on November 11. After a 3-2 shotout win in the first game of the season, the home crowd had witnessed a similarly close performance through 40 minutes, seeing their team down 1-0 to start the third.
With Jack Eichel in the box, they were able to tie things up quickly in the third thanks to Andrew Shaw. Regulation saw no further scoring, sending the teams to overime.
At about the three-minute mark of the three-on-three period, a puck battle at the Sabres blue line was won by Phillip Danault, creating a two-on-one against Benoit Pouliot. Despite stumbling in his haste to get the net, Max Pacioretty was easily able to get behind the Buffalo forward, and had plenty of time to pull off a series of moved to get Chad Johnson going the wrong way and bring the fans to their feet with the winning goal.
3:08 OT – Max Pacioretty (Phillip Danault) GWG vs. Buffalo
Pacioretty came into the contest tied for the franchise lead in regular-season overtime goals — a feat he had accomplished one week earlier — so the tally gave the captain sole possession of first place on that list, breaking a tie with Aurel Joliat and Howie Morenz by notching his 10th career extra-time goal.
Max Pacioretty now holds the @CanadiensMTL record for most regular-season overtime goals in franchise history. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/SxyTWBGcGh
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 12, 2017
The goal came on Pacioretty’s ninth shot of the contest, and was his third game-winning goal in a five-game span.
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