After giving two starts in a row to Samuel Montembeault this week, Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis got the goalie carousel back in motion by sending Cayden Primeau in front of the net, against the Sabres.
Primeau shone for 40 minutes of play, Juraj Slafkovsky scored the winning goal in a shootout and the Habs began a series of two games in two nights with a 3-2 victory on Saturday night in Buffalo.
The Canadian scored his two goals in 14 seconds in the second before seeing the Sabers come from behind and force a tiebreaker.
Defenseman Jayden Struble first opened the scoring at 12:59 of the second with his first career NHL goal, then captain Nick Suzuki crossed the ice to double the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge’s lead a few moments later.
Jeff Skinner and Kyle Okposo, however, responded in the third period for the Sabres.
The Canadian nevertheless increased his lead to two points over the Sabers in sixth place in the Atlantic Division by virtue of a 12-12-3 record good for 27 points.
Primeau finished his night of work with 47 saves, a career high. At the other end of the ice, Quebec goalie Devon Levi blocked 29 pucks.
Primeau in shape
Primeau was starting a sixth game this season and he particularly stood out in the first period with 17 saves. In particular, he made well-executed moves to make saves at the expense of Casey Mittelstadt and Skinner, both located to his left.
The goalkeeper received a penalty for tripping at the end of the period, but he redeemed himself by blocking a shot from Okposo, alone in front of him during the resulting power play.
Struble rewarded his goaltender 12:59 into the second when he deftly deflected a Johnathan Kovacevic pass past Levi. Struble had previously collected an assist in eight games since his recall from the Laval Rocket.
Primeau, Struble and Levi are all Northeastern University alumni. Injured Canadian guard Jordan Harris is also a product of this Massachusetts establishment.
The Sabers were unable to score on three opportunities on the power play in the first period, including a 35-second sequence with two extra men. The Canadian capitalized on his second opportunity through Suzuki, in the second period.
Suzuki took a behind-the-back pass from Mike Matheson in his own zone, crossed both blue lines and surprised Levi with a low shot.
Suzuki’s goal came after Eric Robinson, recently acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets, received a major penalty for slashing Justin Barron.
Things got complicated in the third period for the Montreal team. Jeff Skinner first closed the gap at 1:06 after teammate Tage Thompson created a turnover in the neutral zone. It was a 12e goal for Skinner this season and a 25e net in 40 career games against the Canadian.
Okposo tied the game 5:30 later. The 35-year-old American also collected his 600th career point, having taken part in 1012 matches on the Bettman circuit.
After a scoreless overtime, Victor Olofsson and Owen Power, for the Sabres, then Cole Caufield and Jesse Ylonen, of the CH, threaded the needle during the play-off session before Slafkovsky made the difference.
Caufield was cleared from the scoresheet at his 150e career match. He notably shot next to the net when he was alone in the slot during a power play in the third period. He has 60 goals and 104 points in his career.
Slafkovsky dropped the gloves on Connor Clifton with 4:16 left in the game.
Joel Armia returned to the lineup, to the detriment of Michael Pezzetta, sent to the press box.
The Canadian will return to action on Sunday, when they host the Nashville Predators at the Bell Centre.