Caufield and Dobes Lead Habs Past Sabres

As clutch as Caufield was, Dobes was equally clutch with big saves all night long. There were many times in the 3rd period when the Sabres had a great opportunity to tie it up late in the game, but Dobes stood tall and allowed him to help the Canadiens prevail. With the win tonight, Dobes is now 8-0-1 in his last 9 starts as he remains red-hot. On the other hand, the Habs snapped Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon’s 10-game winning streak heading into Saturday.

While Caufield was the best skater on the night, it should be noted that Kirby Dach had a solid performance as a replacement on the top line for Alexandre Texier, who was out with a lower-body injury. He helped create space that allowed both Suzuki and Caufield to make plays, which eventually led to the game-tying and winning goals. It can be said that Dach has officially gotten back on his game over the last two matchups, which means he may now be the best option to play with Suzuki and Caufield, even when Texier returns. Hopefully, even if Texier is back, he gets a chance to show what he can do with the Habs top line.

Unlike the two previous games against the Sabres during the month of January, the Canadiens made sure not to let the Sabres get on the board early in the first period as a mix of solid defence and goaltending kept the Sabres off the board early on despite coming in as the team with more confidence. As a result this leveled the playing field quickly.

The Canadiens would get on the board first thanks to a power play midway through the opening frame. With Caufield and Suzuki passing the puck on the left side of the ice, it opened up some room for Juraj Slafkovsky to get a shot off from his office in the bumper spot, where he made no mistake beating Lyon to open the scoring. Slafkovsky now officially has a new career high of 21 goals and is also tied with Suzuki for the most power-play markers on the team. He also passed Henri Richard for 2nd most goals in Habs history for players under age 22 with his 63rd career marker.

Both teams had other chances to score a goal near the end of the opening frame, but neither could cash in on the two who were riding high from their recent personal winning streaks. As a result, the Canadiens would finish a period with a lead for the first time in the 3 games against the Sabres during the month of January.

Unfortunately, it was a tough 2nd period that was pretty much dominated by the Sabres. Nonetheless, Dobes was doing his best to keep it a 1-0 game in the Habs’ favour. It took until 7:36 into the 2nd frame for the Sabres to get a puck past Dobes. With a delayed penalty on the way, the Sabres were passing the puck around until Tage Thompson fed Owen Power at the top of the slot, where the defenseman would beat Dobes with a wrister through traffic to tie the game up at 1 and cancel the power play.

Later in the period, the Habs would run into penalty trouble where they took 3 minor penalties, one after another. It wasn’t until the 3rd penalty that the Canadiens would concede a power-play goal to go down 2-1. Dobes would make a big save on the initial shot by Ryan McLeod, but Alex Tuch would get the rebound behind the net and send a perfect pass to Noah Ostlund in the slot. Ostlund would fire a one-timer past Dobes with 1:02 left in the 2nd period to give his Sabres a 2-1 lead.

The Habs came out in the 3rd period with a clear goal in mind to get that tying goal early, playing some of their best hockey early in the 3rd period by putting a lot of pressure on the Sabres. It would only take 4:14 into the period to get the game all tied up. Noah Dobson would shoot the puck towards the net, which Caufield would tip past Lyon for his 31st of the season. That goal put Caufield in sole possession of the 3rd most goals in the NHL.

Caufield’s 2nd goal of the game would come midway through the 3rd frame. Dach would win a puck battle in the corner and send the puck over to Suzuki at the side of the net. Suzuki would then slide the puck past a Sabres defender and onto Caufield’s stick, where he would beat Lyon glove side to give the Habs a 3-2 lead. Caufield’s 2nd of the game would mark his 13th goal for the month of January, which is the most any Habs player has scored in a month since Guy Lafleur scored 13 himself during January of 1979. It’s clear that Caufield has managed to have a legendary month of January and should be the Molson Cup recipient for the month of January yet again. On top of Caufield’s successes on that goal, an assist on the play has given Suzuki his 5th straight multi-point game against the Sabres as he finished the night with 2 assists.

Following the Habs’ goal, the Sabres pushed hard for the tying goal, but a mix of big saves and posts bailing Dobes out allowed the Canadiens to maintain their lead. Even a late 6 on 4 situation didn’t cause much damage as the Habs were able to finally hold onto a late one-goal lead. It seems like it’s one of the biggest challenges for the Habs, but on Saturday they were able to close it out.

Oliver Kapanen would end up getting a final goal as he intercepted a pass in the defensive zone before launching the puck down the ice and into the empty cage at the other end. This goal was Kapanen’s 17th of the season as he quietly approaches the 20-goal mark on the season. He may have been struggling offensively as of late, but he is still a smart player who can contribute by playing a solid defensive game, and as a result, Kapanen got rewarded with a goal.

The Canadiens leave Buffalo with a massive 4-2 win in a game that they couldn’t afford to drop, as the Sabres have had their number all month. However, with the win, the Habs will have managed to finish the season series 2-2 against their divisional opponent. Honestly, the way the schedule worked, the NHL was able to create some good animosity between these teams that may only build over to next season or the playoffs if they meet there. For now, the Canadiens are in 3rd place in the Atlantic, up 2 points on both the Sabres, who have a game in hand, and the Boston Bruins, who have played the same number of games as the Habs. However, with how tight the division has been this season, anything could end up happening.

The Canadiens’ next game will be against the Minnesota Wild on the road at 7:30 pm ET. They will be hoping to win their first matchup in Minnesota since an 8-1 victory all the way back in 2011. Considering they won their first game overall against the Wild since October 2019, it could be a new era where the Habs will be able to snap their 12-game losing streak in Minnesota.