(Montreal) The Canadian tightened the game around his net, but it was not enough to get back on the winning path.
Alex Tuch broke the tie by scoring shorthanded late in the second period and the Buffalo Sabers defeated the Montreal team 3-2 on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
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The Habs wanted to improve their game around their net. He allowed just one goal on a deflected shot. However, two other errors at the opposing blue line were costly.
The match was punctuated by several good shoulder blows and a few scuffles. Arber Xhekaj applied the most impactful check of the game in the second period, at the expense of Zemgus Girgensons.
PHOTO ERIC BOLTE, USA TODAY SPORTS
Samuel Montembeault
Xhekaj and Jayden Struble scored for the Canadian (22-26-8), who suffered a third loss in a row. Joshua Roy had two assists and Samuel Montembeault made 20 saves.
Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky’s point streaks were cut to 10 and eight games, respectively.
Girgensons and Jeff Skinner also scored for the Sabers (25-27-4). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 29 shots.
Forward Jesse Ylönen and defenseman Jordan Harris were back in the Canadian lineup. Michael Pezzetta and Johnathan Kovacevic were left out.
Harris had missed the previous three games due to a concussion suffered Feb. 11 against the St. Louis Blues.
The Canadian will play again on Thursday, when he visits the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Good hockey
The Canadiens’ stars quickly threatened. Slafkovsky missed the target in the opening moments of the match after a nice pass from Suzuki.
The Habs captain then came up against Luukkonen during a power play.
Montembeault also stood out in the first period, notably stopping JJ Peterka, who had escaped while the teams were playing four against four.
The Canadian goalie was lucky a little later, when Dylan Cozens hit the post during a power play.
Xhekaj finally opened the scoring with 7:19 left in the first period. He beat Luukkonen with a powerful slap shot from the faceoff circle to the right of the Sabers goaltender.
Moments later, Montembeault received help from Mike Matheson to frustrate Skinner, who had just rounded the back of the net after being forgotten by everyone.
The Sabers tied the game 4:20 into the second period. Girgensons skillfully deflected a shot from Henri Jokiharju into the goal.
The Canadian took the lead again 2:15 later. Struble’s shot deflected off Sabers forward Peyton Krebs before moving the string.
The Sabers responded again at 9:28, with a power play. A turnaround from Joel Armia allowed the visitors to counterattack three against two. Montembeault stopped Cozens’ initial shot, but Skinner beat him on the return with a precise shot.
Tuch then gave the visitors the lead with 1:52 left in the second period. He scored on a shorthanded breakaway, after a bad pass from Cole Caufield to Matheson entering the zone.
The Canadian increased his attacks towards the opposing net in the third period.
Roy had a great chance more than seven minutes into the game, but his shot just missed the net after the puck slipped through Luukkonen’s legs.
The Sabers goaltender was also alert when Josh Anderson deflected a shot from Xhekaj with more than eight minutes left in the game.
The Canadian found himself on the power play late in the game. Even at six against four, he was unable to tie the game and force a tiebreaker.
His momentum was slowed when Slafkovsky received his third minor penalty of the game with about 25 seconds left on the clock.