The three-game sweep of the NHL from Wednesday night starts in Montreal where the Canadiens hosted the Buffalo Sabres.
The visiting Sabres scored three goals in the third period to send the Habs to another loss.
Jamie McGinn, Johan Larsson and Brian Gionta scored for the Sabres in the final frame.
“They made a good push in the second [period],” Gionta said. “Obviously, toward the end, maybe the last five minutes of the first, we were able to take it a little bit to them. So they made a push back in the second to get a couple of goals there on us, but I thought we showed a lot of composure there in the third.” “We didn’t like our second so we came out pretty hungry in the third,” Foligno said. “We know that’s a fragile team over there right now, and we’ve been there too, where things seem to not go your way all the time. You’ve got to keep on them, and stay on them and they find a way to lose. That was a good third period by us. I thought we had a lot of puck pressure and line rushes, and obviously a big power-play goal to tie the game.” Marcus FolignoMarcus Foligno
Marcus Foligno scored in the first period to give the Sabres an early lead that stood up until the middle frame.
“We didn’t like our second so we came out pretty hungry in the third,” Foligno said. “We know that’s a fragile team over there right now, and we’ve been there too, where things seem to not go your way all the time. You’ve got to keep on them, and stay on them and they find a way to lose. That was a good third period by us. I thought we had a lot of puck pressure and line rushes, and obviously a big power-play goal to tie the game.”
Montreal had taken a 2-1 lead into the third period on goals by Dale Weise and Alex Galchenyuk.
“They came out strong,” McGinn said. “I think they lost [Tuesday] night, and they wanted to come out with some heat in front of their own fans so we did a good job of weathering the storm. [Girgensons] made a great play, hustling and then making the play over to Marcus. That was a huge goal to get us into the game. I think it was the first shot of the game and then the momentum changed and we got our legs under us and the rust came off.”
It was the fifth straight loss on home ice for the Habs.
“I’m running out of things to say,” Montreal captain Max Pacioretty said. “It’s the same thing after every game; I’m saying, ‘It’s a complete letdown.'”
The Habs are now in the 13th spot in the eastern conference, out of the playoff picture for now.
“We are very aware that it is going to be very hard to make the playoffs,” Montreal coach Michel Therrien said.
Robin Lehner made 33 saves for the win.
In Tampa, the Lightning defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1, on the strength of power play goals from Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov.
“Against Detroit, they play such tight hockey,” Johnson said. “Five-on-5, there aren’t many chances. For us to score on the power play like we did with those two opportunities, that’s huge. When you get a lead against a team like that, you can play a little more defense and I thought we did pretty well.”
J.T. Brown also scored for the Bolts.
Ben Bishop made 24 saves in his 100th win with Tampa Bay.
“This was a big game, one of the bigger ones of the year, if not the biggest,” Bishop said. “There are a good team, so anytime you can beat them in regulation and take two points it feels good. We’re going to enjoy this for a couple of seconds and get ready for Friday (against the Pittsburgh Penguins).”
Gustav Nyquist scored the lone Wings goal.
“Both teams played tight and when you have those games most of the time it comes down to the special teams,” Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg said. “And they beat us there [Wednesday].”
Petr Mrazek had 20 saves in the loss.
“I thought Petr played good, he played the puck well,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “Two of the goals were back doors. We’ve got to score more goals for him.”
In Calgary, the Flames’ Sean Monahan had a goal and four points on the night to lead the Flames to a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Obviously I’m not looking to hit four points in a game, but when it happens it obviously feels good, especially when you win on home ice,” said Monahan, who had been pointless in four straight games and had three points in his previous 14 games. “It was a good game by the whole group. Karri made some big saves. It was nice to win like that.”
Dougie Hamilton, Mark Giordano, Johnny Gaudreau also scored for the Flames who need wins to get back in the playoff race in the western conference.
“It’s just the situation we’re in,” Monahan said. “We need these wins. We need the points. That’s the main thing on our minds right now. As a group that’s what we’re focused on and we’re trying to get as many wins as we can.”
It was the Flames first game without Dennis Wideman who was suspended for 20 games earlier in the day.
“It’s there. We all knew about it. We were all wondering and thinking about it,” Giordano said. “Once the puck drops, we have to find a way to climb back into this. It started tonight. That was a big step. We have to string a few together. We know it’s not going to be one win, one loss. We have to string a few together. That was a good start.”
Elias Lindholm scored for the Canes.
“We’re not going to make any excuses,” Carolina captain Eric Staal said. “We came here a couple of days early to make sure we were ready to go but obviously we didn’t have the game we wanted and we have to be better next game, everybody.”
Karri Ramo made 28 saves for the Flames win and Eddie Lack took the loss on 18 saves.
You must be logged in to post a comment.