In front of a boisterous sellout crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Canadians, 4-1, for their ninth straight win. Buffalo is now only one victory away from tying the National Hockey League record for consecutive victories to start a season, set by the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 1993. The Sabres also surpassed the franchise mark of eight wins to start a year with their Monday night victory.
Montreal came into the contest looking to exact revenge from an earlier season defeat at the hands of Buffalo. On Oct. 6 the Sabres were able to overcome a late two-goal deficit at home to defeat the Canadians in a shootout.
On Monday night, the Sabres were led by a great effort in goal by Ryan Miller. Miller was able to save 26 of 27 shots, as he allowed just a third period goal to Mike Johnson. Captain Chris Drury notched a short-handed goal, his 10th goal of the year, tying him with Marian Hossa of Atlanta for the league lead.
The Sabres opened the scoring in the first with a goal by forward Jiri Novotny, the shot hit Montreal goalie Christobal Huet in the shoulder and bounced into the net behind him.
The Sabres continued to control the play of the game into the second period as they added two more goals, and took a comfortable three-goal lead into the third period. After Montreal scored with 11 minutes remaining, the Sabres were able to kill a late penalty and added an empty-net goal from Thomas Vanek to hold off a strong rush from the Canadians.
This season the Sabres have outscored opponents 46-23 and have 12 more goals scored than their nearest competition. Forwards Chris Drury and Maxim Afiniganov are second and third in the league in points while Vanek and Tallinder lead the NHL in plus/minus rating at plus 10.
Buffalo's attack is not the only reason for the team's success. Goalie Ryan Miller is on top of the NHL. He leads the league over all other goaltenders in wins with seven on the season.
The Sabres will look to enjoy a couple days rest before taking on their former head coach Ted Nolan and the New York Islanders. Nolan was the NHL coach of the year award winner in 1997, though he felt unappreciated by the organization for only offering him a one-year contract. Instead of taking the offer, he left Buffalo and the NHL completely. He most recently coached junior hockey in Quebec before being hired by the New York Islanders this off-season.
Following Thursday's contest, the Sabres will return home this weekend to face the Atlanta Thrashers. Atlanta ranks second in the eastern conference in points and sports the leagues leading point getter in Marian Hossa.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
