Lots of opportunities, lots of frustration.
The Buffalo Sabres returned home to KeyBank Center on Thursday night and didn't show many signs of any fatigue or jet lag from their four-game Western road trip.
The Buffalo Sabres fell to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 at KeyBank Center on Thursday night. Here are photos from the game.
The Sabres peppered the Montreal net with a season-high 45 shots on goal but suffered a disappointing 3-2 loss on a knuckleball by Canadiens forward Josh Anderson that floated over Eric Comrie's shoulder with 3:56 left.
Buffalo fell to 4-3 and has dropped two straight for the first time this season. Montreal, which got a stellar 43-save effort from backup goalie Sam Montembeault, improved to 4-4.
Anderson had been stoned by Comrie in tight just a few seconds earlier but the puck cycled back to him and he got much better luck.
"That's hockey. Sometimes you don't get those bounces," said Comrie, who stopped 31 of 34 shots. "Sometimes those things happen unfortunately."
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Jeff Skinner scored his first goal of the season 31 seconds into the second period to get Buffalo into a 1-1 tie and Dylan Cozens' snapshot from the left circle with 7:03 left pulled the Sabres even at 2-2. That goal came after the first NHL tally by Montreal rookie Kaiden Guhle at 6:51 of the third put the Habs up 2-1 but the Sabres couldn't forge a go-ahead goal.
"We got lots of shots," Cozens said. "But we might need more bodies around the net to get those rebounds and get those greasy goals. Not every goal is going to be pretty."
The Sabres had season-highs in both shots and attempts (71). Their 18 shots on goal in the third period, which included a pair of in-alone chances by Casey Mittelstadt on a penalty kill, were also a season high.
Tage Thompson led the Sabres with eight shots on goal and 12 attempts, and he actually passed up more than one good look in the game.
"I think we tried to pass the puck into the net," said coach Don Granato. "Feeling good about puck movement and possession time but didn't have a killer instinct. ... And uncharacteristically I thought we backed off specifically on the defensive end, gave up time and space and we were not assertive enough."
So after scoring 22 goals in their first five games this season, the Sabres have only three in their last two games.
Here are some other observations on the defeat:
1. Major move on D
With long-term injuries to Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju, Granato put Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power together in a pairing of No. 1 overall picks. The results were spotty at best.
Power was on the ice for all three goals against, getting bad luck on Brendan Gallagher's first-period tally that went in off his skate. The rookie had several other difficult moments in the game. Dahlin played 27:48 but was pointless for the first time this season. Power was minus-3 and Dahlin was minus-2.
"He had a few challenging moments tonight, as did many of the guys on our team," Granato said of Power. "You hate to say he had them because of his age or he had them because of lack of experience. ... There's probably the first night that he's been with us there's probably a few more challenging moments."
"Get pairs together and get guys comfortable playing within our system or as D partners," coach Don Granato said Thursday morning of his immediate objective.
2. The lineup
Granato kept his top forward line together, with Thompson centering Skinner and Alex Tuch. There were tweaks after that, as Peyton Krebs came back into the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch for two games and played with Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo.
Jack Quinn was on a line with Casey Mittelstadt and Vinnie Hinostroza while Dylan Cozens centered JJ Peterka and Victor Olofsson.
The Sabres made Rasmus Asplund a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Riley Sheahan and Kale Clague, neither of whom have played yet this season, were also healthy scratches.
3. Step up for Quinn
The Sabres made one key switch on their power play units, elevating Quinn to the No. 1 group and moving Mittelstadt to the second quintet.
Both groups had plenty of zone time as the Sabres collected 10 shots on goal even though they went just 1 for 4. The Skinner goal came with three seconds left on a carryover penalty to Montreal's Kirby Dach. Quinn got the secondary assist on the play, his first point of the season
"It's a chance of a real boost to feeling better about what he does," Granato said of elevating Quinn. "When you put young guys with older guys, especially in those situations, those are the expectations."
The Habs entered the game 31st in the NHL on the power play at just 1 for 21 and went 0 for 3. Two unsuccessful chances came in the first five minutes and a third-period opportunity saw the Sabres get the better chances, including a breakaway by Mittelstadt that was stopped by Montembeault. Buffalo came in 24th at 3 for 23.
4. Next
The Sabres will practice on Friday and host the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night at 7. There's a good chance it will be the final appearance as a Hawk in Buffalo by South Buffalo native Patrick Kane, who was drafted No. 1 overall in 2007 but may be traded at some point this season in the final year of his expiring contract.
