The atmosphere in HSBC Arena on Wednesday night was electric, especially when the Sabres tied the game up with less than a minute to go in the third. The referees seemed to be a bit biased once again, but Buffalo came out on top.
Andrei Kostitsyn scored 41 seconds into the game to quiet the crowd. He scored again in the second to put Montreal up by two. The Sabres took four penalties within eight minutes as the second period began, but the Canadiens could only capitalize on one of them.
Montreal ended up taking the final six penalties, which proved to be costly. Tim Connolly scored with 1:59 remaining to cut the lead in half. About a minute later, Paul Gaustad put in a rebound and the crowd roared.
Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek each scored for Buffalo in the shootout, and Miller made a phenomenal save on Michael Cammalleri, leading Buffalo to a 3-2 win.
After winning the opener against Buffalo, the Canadiens have dropped the last four against the Sabres.
Ryan Miller came into the game 6-0-2 against Montreal since the start of last season, with a 2.06 goals against. The Sabres have now won four straight games and will host Ottawa on Friday night.