Buffalo Sabres at Montreal Canadiens
· National Hockey League
Zachary Bolduc scores decisive goal in shootout for 2nd straight game as Canadiens beat Sabres 4-3
Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield each had a goal and an assist for Montreal. Josh Anderson also scored, and Juraj Slafkovsky added two assists.
Jacob Fowler made 14 saves in his third consecutive start after stopping 30 shots in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Detroit, which was decided by Bolduc's goal in the sixth shootout round.
Olen Zellweger had two goals and Josh Norris also scored for Buffalo as the teams met for the first time since the Canadiens eliminated the Sabres in the second round of last season's playoffs.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 35 shots, and Beck Malenstyn and Mattias Samuelsson had two assists apiece.
The Sabres scored twice in 61 seconds to erase a two-goal lead and tie the score at 3-3 at 5:25 of the third period. Norris bounced a point shot off defenseman Adam Engstrom before Zellweger converted his second with a wrist shot through a crowd.
In the shootout, Cole Caufield and Alexandre Texier scored for Montreal. Tage Thompson scored for Buffalo, but Jack Quinn missed to open the door for Bolduc.
Zellweger opened the scoring on the game’s first shot when his point attempt hit Engstrom and bounced into the net.
Hutson answered with a wrist shot past a screened Luukkonen on a 5-on-3 power play to tie the game at 14:28 of the first period. Caufield then one-timed a pass from Slafkovsky to give Montreal a 2-1 lead early in the second.
Hutson showcased his skill again late in the second, stickhandling in from the blue line before sliding a no-look backhand pass to Anderson, who fired into the open net with 50 seconds remaining in the period.
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin did not travel to Montreal after appearing to hurt his lower back in Monday’s 5-3 win over Florida. Zellweger stepped into Buffalo’s top pairing and scored his first goals since being acquired by Buffalo last summer.
Canadiens: At Washington on Wednesday.
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Regular Season SeriesMTL leads series 1-0
Scoring Summary
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Goal | 1st Period 2:16 | Olen Zellweger Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Mattias Samuelsson (2), Beck Malenstyn (1) |
 |
Goal | 1st Period 14:28 | Lane Hutson Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Juraj Slafkovský (1), Cole Caufield (1) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 1:19 | Cole Caufield Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Juraj Slafkovský (2), Nick Suzuki (5) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 19:10 | Josh Anderson Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Lane Hutson (5), Zachary Bolduc (1) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 4:24 | Josh Norris Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Dennis Gilbert (1), Beck Malenstyn (2) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 5:25 | Olen Zellweger Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Zach Benson (3), Mattias Samuelsson (3) |
|
Goal | 5 0:00 | Cole Caufield Goal Snap Shot |
|
Goal | 5 0:00 | Tage Thompson Goal Snap Shot |
|
Goal | 5 0:00 | Alexandre Texier Goal Snap Shot |
|
Goal | 5 0:00 | Zachary Bolduc Goal Backhand |
Statistics
 BUF |
 MTL |
|
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Blocked Shots | 15 |
| 24 | Hits | 22 |
| 4 | Takeaways | 3 |
| 16 | Shots | 38 |
| 0 | Power Play Goals | 1 |
| 5 | Power Play Opportunities | 3 |
| 0.0 | Power Play Percentage | 33.3 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 33 | Faceoffs Won | 32 |
| 50.8 | Faceoff Win Percent | 49.2 |
| 17 | Giveaways | 18 |
| 4 | Total Penalties | 6 |
| 8 | Penalty Minutes | 12 |
Montreal Canadiens Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Matheson, D | Out | Oct 17 |
| Florian Xhekaj, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 17 |
| Sam Montembeault, G | Injured Reserve | Oct 10 |
| Ivan Demidov, RW | Injured Reserve | Oct 6 |
| Bryce Pickford, D | Injured Reserve | Sep 29 |
Buffalo Sabres Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Rasmus Dahlin, D | Out | Oct 16 |
| Alex Lyon, G | Injured Reserve | Oct 15 |
| Matt Grzelcyk, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 13 |
| Jason Zucker, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 6 |
| Conor Timmins, D | Injured Reserve | Sep 29 |
