*Photo from the Rink Live*
The strong start to the season continues in Quebec. Brendan Gallagher had a goal and an assist, Tanner Pearson had an identical line, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabres with a 3-1 victory on Monday night in Buffalo.
Montreal won their second straight game and are now 3-1-1 to begin the year, 3rd place in the Atlantic Division. They got big stops in goal as well as a productive offense. Gallagher and Pearson were the only multi point players for the Canadiens.
Gallagher said of his two point game that "I’m playing with two guys that make it really easy. Really comfortable playing with them (Pearson, Sean Monahan). The line seems to be working right now, and I’m healthy. It’s one of those things where you just hope it keeps going."
The Canadiens took the lead first in this one. Scoring 2:56 into the game was Justin Barron, who gave Montreal a 1-0 lead on his first goal of the season, assisted by Sean Monahan and Arber Xhekaj. On the power play 7:13 into the game, Jeff Skinner scored the tying goal for the Sabres, making it 1-1 with his 3rd goal of the season.
After a scoreless second period, Gallagher resumed the scoring in the 3rd. He tallied his second goal of the year, giving the Canadiens a 2-1 lead with Pearson and David Savard getting assists. With a power play chance at the 16:53 of the 3rd, Pearson converted for the Canadiens, making it a 3-1 score with Gallagher and Alex Newhook assisting.
Jake Allen was the starter for the Canadiens, putting together a strong start as he improved to 2-0-1 on the season. Allen made 36 saves on the 37 shots the Sabres tested him with, which was good for a .973 save percentage.
Allen said after the game that "I think I’m just trying to get a little bit better every time right now. That’s my mantra, that’s my goal. It’s not going to be perfect all the time, but I’ll try to keep this rolling. We’re at a point right now in the schedule where we’re a bit more fresh, so we’re trying to take advantage of this time. Tonight was a big win, a way to come here after another big, emotional win the other night. To get back on the horse sometimes isn’t easy, but I was impressed with the group. It wasn’t pretty, but we got it done."
Eric Comrie got the start for the Sabres, picking up the loss as his record dropped to 1-1-0 this season. Comrie turned aside 24 out of the 27 shots on goal that the Canadiens sent at him, recording a .889 save percentage.
Sabres head coach Don Granato said that "I would say that we didn’t get to the net with enough conviction, enough conviction and determination. That was for me pretty evident, I guess. We generated chances. I think we had 11 power-play shots. I thought the power play actually did some decent things and didn’t score, but 5-on-5 we didn’t get to the net enough. That was the challenge tonight."
Both teams play again on Tuesday night. Cayden Primeau will start for the Canadiens against the New Jersey Devils, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected to start for Buffalo as they face the Ottawa Senators.
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