Two third-period goals a minute apart helped the Sabres salvage a point against Atlantic Division rival Montreal on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens eventually defeated Buffalo 4–3 in a shootout.
The Sabres got on the board early. Owen Zellweger fired a seeing-eye wrist shot past Jacob Fowler 2:16 into the first period to give Buffalo a 1–0 lead.
Montreal answered at the 14:48 mark. Lane Hutson capitalized on a five-on-three power play, firing a shot from just outside the circle past Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to tie the score.
The Canadiens took the lead early in the second when Cole Caufield one-timed a pass from Juraj Slafkovský past Luukkonen to make it 2–1.
With time winding down in the second period, Josh Anderson extended Montreal’s lead, ripping a shot from the faceoff dot just inside the post to make it 3–1.
The Sabres battled back in the third. Josh Norris scored his first goal of the season 4:24 into the period. Zellweger scored his second of the game 1:01 later to tie it.
Neither team could find the winning goal in regulation or overtime, so the game went to a shootout.
Caufield, Alexandre Texier and Zachary Bolduc all scored in the shootout, which ended 3–1 and gave the Canadiens a 4–3 victory.
Next up: The Sabres head to Toronto on Thursday to take on the Maple Leafs.
