You went to bed, the Sabres fell apart
Well, if you went to bed early last night, you missed the Buffalo Sabres absolutely fall apart in front of a home crowd at KeyBank Center. The Montreal Canadiens, a team we should be handling, walked out of here with a 6-3 win after Buffalo went up 3-1 in the first. I’m telling you, it was like watching a slow-motion car crash on the I-190 during rush hour. Zach Benson wasn't out there, so no help from him, but the whole team just looked lost after a promising start.
### What Went Wrong
The first period was a rollercoaster. J. Zucker got us on the board quick, then the Canadiens answered. J. Doan, who had a good night personally, put us back up, and then they tied it right back up like nine seconds later. K. Helenius scored to make it 3-2, and for a minute, you thought we might actually make it a game. Then the wheels came off in the second. Joshua Anderson, Jake Evans, and Nick Suzuki all scored for Montreal, with Suzuki’s being a power play goal. Then Ivan Demidov tacked on another power play goal in the third to twist the knife. Our special teams? Don't even get me started.
* J. Zucker’s early goal was a false promise. * Montreal scored four unanswered goals. * Two of those were on the power play. * The Buffalo Sabres couldn't buy a save when it mattered.
### Looking Ahead
It’s frustrating, especially with the Buffalo Sabres sitting pretty at 50-23-9 with 109 points, still first in the Atlantic. This loss stings a little more because we’ve been playing decent lately, 6-3-1 in our last ten. We need to tighten things up, especially against teams like Montreal. We can’t be giving away points like free samples at the Broadway Market. The schedule doesn't get easier, so this kind of play can’t become a habit. Let's Go Buff-a-lo! We need to remember who we are.
Let's Go Buff-a-lo — from the City of Good Neighbors, this is Peg.
If you want to hear what I really think about this mess, the guys over at the morning show are talking about it right now at mornings.live.