It took over 50 minutes of play before someone could get on the board. Halfway through the third period, Max Pacioretty broke the scoreless tie with his 32nd goal of the season.
Carey Price was perfect in goal as he stopped all 24 shots he faced. Matt Hackett received the start in goal for Buffalo, and stopped 33 of 35 shots he faced. Hackett made several key stops in the opening period, and did a solid job controlling rebounds.
Hackett’s strong performance was overshadowed by the goalie at the other end. The loss was Buffalo’s second straight and fourth in the last five games. With the shutout, the Sabres have scored 11 goals in the past 10 games.
After staying with Montreal for the first half of the game, the Canadiens took control in the final period. Pacioretty was finally able to break the stalemate with help from Thomas Vanek and David Desharnais, who assisted on the first Montreal goal.
Daniel Briere added an insurance goal on the power play. The Sabres penalty killing unit successfully killed off the first six opportunities, but the Canadiens broke through in the third.
The Sabres only had a few opportunities with the man advantage, but Montreal killed them off. Buffalo’s biggest opportunity may have came when they were shorthanded. Cody Hodgson made a nice move around the Montreal defender and created a scoring chance, but Price made the stop.
After taking a penalty, Matt D’Agostini wasn’t happy with the call against him, and ended up getting an unsportsmanlike conduct call added on. A four minute power play for Montreal was killed off by Buffalo midway through the second period.
“We battled really hard,” Ehrhoff said. “We were in the game most of the time.”
The Sabres will finish off their five-game road trip when they face Nashville on Thursday. That game is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST.