Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault (35) reacts in the net following a goal by Buffalo Sabres' Zach Benson (6) during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) reaches for the puck as Sabres' Alex Tuch (89) and Montreal Canadiens' Jake Evans (71) battle during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
MONTREAL - The Montreal Canadiens鈥 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night can easily be broken down into two distinct parts.
First came the game鈥檚 opening period, which saw Buffalo storm out to a 2-0 lead, including a goal in the game鈥檚 first minute and another coming with Montreal playing with the man advantage.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 do a good enough job forechecking through the neutral zone,鈥 said Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki. 鈥淲e gave up a lot of odd-man rushes, a 2-on-1 to start the game. That can鈥檛 happen. It was more so on us than whatever they were doing.鈥
鈥淭he only thing I hated about our game was our forechecking in the first,鈥 added Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis. 鈥淚t hurt us.鈥
Adjustments were admittedly made between the first and second periods, which flipped the proverbial switch for Montreal.
Despite giving up a goal to Zach Benson 2:25 into the second period, Montreal dominated possession throughout the middle frame, outshooting the Sabres 15-3.
Montreal would be rewarded with a pair of goals, Suzuki first feeding linemate Cole Caufield for a one-timer to cut the deficit to two.
Montreal鈥檚 captain scored a goal of his own later in the period, converting on a Zachary Bolduc rebound to bring the team even closer.
鈥淚 think we just started defending them a lot better,鈥 said Suzuki. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a shame that it took us to get down 3-0 to start doing that. It鈥檚 a big part of the reason we lost. I thought after they scored their third goal, we pretty much carried the play and could have tied it up.鈥
Nevertheless, although the Canadiens outshot the Sabres 34-17 on the night, that game-tying goal never came. This was much to the chagrin of Montreal鈥檚 Phillip Danault, who felt his team deserved at least one point for their effort.
鈥淭he game is getting tighter,鈥 said Danault. 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 pushing for a playoff spot. It won鈥檛 be easy. It will always be a good challenge.鈥
With the loss, their second in regulation time to Buffalo in a span of eight days, Montreal鈥檚 lead over the Sabres in the Atlantic Division can best be described as tenuous.
Buffalo now sits just two points back of Montreal for third place in the division, with Buffalo still holding one game in hand on their cross-border rivals.
With the teams set to meet one final time this season on Jan. 31 in Buffalo, the Canadiens, to a man, understand they鈥檒l need to play a certain style of play to come out on top.
鈥淵ou got to be calculating in how you forecheck them,鈥 said St. Louis. 鈥淵ou look at who beat them (in regulation), I think, the last two times: Florida and Carolina. Florida forechecks hard, Carolina plays man-on-man.
"You can鈥檛 forecheck space against that team. As soon as you double up in space, you鈥檙e going to get eaten alive.鈥
This report by 好色tvwas first published Jan. 23, 2026.
The 好色tv Press. All rights reserved.
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