Final Score
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | SO | Total | SOG | |
| Canadiens (26-9-5) | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 5 | 42 |
| Sabres (16-19-6) | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 15 |
Top Notes
- Montreal’s eight power plays tied the Sabres’ season high by an opponent.
- With Brian Flynn’s shorthanded goal, the Sabres have gotten a shorthanded goal from seven different players, tying for third-most in franchise history (last time: 2005-06). The franchise record is 10 different scorers (1993-94).
- Kevin Porter now has five points (3+2) in his last five games.
- The Sabres lost to the Canadiens at home in regulation for the first time since Nov. 5, 2010, falling to 4-1-1 in their last six home games against the Habs.
Top Quotes
Montreal goaltender Peter Budaj:
On tonight’s game: “Its huge; you can just see from tonight’s games, we didn’t play well enough against Washington, and we came back with this one. We outplayed them. I don’t want to take anything away from Buffalo but we played a much better game and better-structured game. Guys are working hard, blocked some shots, made my job really easy, we have a great group of guys.”
On shots against: “I felt pretty good, even though they had a couple chances in the beginning. I think we came out with a jump. [In the] first minute we had two [chances], Miller made a nice save on us. Right off the get-go we showed we were here to play, that obviously makes me more calm and relaxed I was able to make some saves so they didn’t have much. We played a really good team game and played one of the best games that I’ve seen our team play this year.”
On playing against the Sabres: “They’re a tough team. They have a good lineup; they have a good offensive part, good defense, great goaltending. When we lost those two games against them we knew we owed them something. That’s what we tried to accomplish today, and we got the big ‘W’ today.”
Montreal forward Alex Galchenyuk:
On tonight’s game: “I had a good game, back to normal and we don’t stop for another couple games, so right now I am just trying to stay focused as much as I can on every game.”
Sabres forward Steve Ott:
On the Sabres’ mindset moving forward: “Obviously, I think the answer to what we want to do in here is be competitive, and be hard to play against. If we’re not going to have the most skilled and the best lineup going every single night, we have to make sure we’re the hardest working one.”
On the booing from fans: “If it’s a shellacking, boo your head off. I agree, I’d be doing it too from the bench. That’s not the issue. It’s the issue I had when it’s a 0-0 game or you’re up 2-1 and you have that great momentum with the young minds, I think that’s where I wish we could have atmosphere in the building and some extra energy, but tonight, rightfully so. That’s not even an issue.”
On the Sabres’ work ethic tonight: “That’s the onus on each other in here, to bring your best game if you’re ready to go and not have passengers. Tonight we had a lot of passengers.”
Sabres forward Cody Hodgson:
On the most disappointing part of the loss: “I think there’s so many things that you can’t just say one thing. We talked about it as a group here, and we keep it in the room.”
On the Sabres’ work ethic: “That was an embarrassing loss. They played a lot better than we did and we, collectively as a group, didn’t match it.”
Sabres forward Brian Flynn:
On how to bounce back from the loss: “Show up tomorrow, and get back to work. It’s what being professional is. You have to expect compete and bring everything you have every night, and it just wasn’t there tonight.”
On the Sabres’ compete level against the Canadiens: “It’s disappointing. Coaches do all the scouting, watch all the video and give us the best game plan we have possible, and it’s meaningless if we don’t show up and execute or compete.”
On Montreal’s fourth goal, which bounced in off of Flynn: “It’s tough there. I think that was the fourth goal. [It’s] obviously really tough to come back from, but I think it’s just some discipline. We gave them too many looks tonight; they have one of the best power plays in the league, and Markov and Subban have heavy shots from up top.”
