Owen Beck drew in for Montreal’s Tuesday game against Buffalo, five months after the Habs beat the Sabres to advance to the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals. Beck is the third long-term prospect the Canadiens have dressed early in the new season, the other two being Florian Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom. Whether it be for experience or showcasing, the games are valuable minutes played for the burgeoning young players. Jacob Fowler was tapped to start his third straight game after his shutout on Saturday evening.
Habs Lineup
Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Chris Kreider – Alex Newhook — Josh Anderson
Zachary Bolduc – Phillip Danault – Alexandre Texier
Kirby Dach – Jake Evans – Owen Beck
Kaiden Guhle – Alexandre Carrier
Lane Hutson — Noah Dobson
Arber Xhekaj – Adam Engstrom
Jacob Fowler
Game Points
– The packed Bell Centre cheered their Habs and jeered their divisional rivals when they hit the ice, and it took less than 30 seconds for the officials to hear it as well. Montreal got the first chance of the game when Nick Suzuki sent a loose puck over Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s left shoulder – over the crossbar as well – but the visitors were first to score. Olen Zellweger successfully sent a point shot through a morass of bodies to the edge of Jacob Fowler’s left pad, the puck then deflecting off Adam Engstrom and bouncing past the goal line. Engstrom had given the puck away moments before behind the net, and pivoted the wrong way, allowing Beck Malenstyn plenty of space to move it back to his defensemen at the blue line.
– Linesman Ryan Daisy was taken down during a faceoff scrum in the Buffalo zone early in the first period. His ankle could be seen buckling and bending horizontally as a Buffalo player fell on him shortly after he dropped the puck. A truly unfortunate and tragic situation, and as much mocking of referees as there is, I hope he is able to make a fully recovery and return to his profession. Montreal had a couple close calls shortly thereafter the delay in play, but were able to escape to the TV timeout thanks to Lane Hutson noticing the drifting puck next to Fowler’s right foot.
– The Canadiens took the first penalty of the game in the form of a too-many-men call, an inexcusable error with only three officials calling the game. Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson had both jumped on the ice, while Chris Kreider sat for the two minutes. It was he who jumped on the ice amidst the first and final clear of the kill, Buffalo’s power play having pushed hard but unable to break through. Moments later, Montreal was unable to break through Luukkonen on a play of their own. Anderson expertly picked off a pass at the Habs blue line and went with Kreider on a 2-on-0 rush. Luukkonen stretched out brilliantly to rob Anderson as Kreider passed the puck back with perfect form.
– Montreal came back immediately after the next faceoff and drew their first call of the game, a tripping call on Zellweger for swiping the legs of Juraj Slafkovsky. The top power play unit certainly seemed more decision-based in their play, shooting four times in their opening 45 seconds, and Louis Crevier handled the pressure by shooting the puck out of the zone and over the glass. The review of the play revealed very close contact on the puck alongside Crevier’s stick by Kreider, but the play stood and Montreal had around 50 seconds of five-on-three time to work with. Suzuki tried a down-low backdoor play, but it would be Hutson to get Montreal on the board. A faceoff win by Phillip Danault back to Cole Caufield, who passed it back to Hutson, and the defender picked a great spot past the traffic.
– The second unit did more harm than good, as Kirby Dach was called for holding Zach Benson as the Sabre drove to the net on the penalty kill. Upon further review of this play, Dach distinctly committed this holding penalty while keeping both hands on his stick and closer to his own body. Jake Evans made an excellent block high in his zone to get a clear, and Anderson cut off another pass through the high slot to spring Newhook for a chance of his own. The remainder of the period involved exchanges of rink-spanning dump plays and heavy hits, courtesy of Arber Xhekaj, Noah Dobson and Mattias Samuelsson.
– The Canadiens piled up three quality chances to start the second period, and Caufield closed on their fourth. Puck pursuit and wave attacks bought the Canadiens possession as they entered the zone, Suzuki carrying the puck over the line. He dropped for Slafkovsky just inside the zone and switched spots, the Slovakian then driving through the middle. Slafkovsky pushed the puck through Hutson and to the wing, where a waiting Caufield fired the puck past the sliding Luukkonen.
– Kreider was called for holding Crevier’s stick as Caufield’s goal was being announced, a ticky-tack call that could have gone to either player in the engagement. Once more, Montreal’s penalty kill feasted on the top of Buffalo’s umbrella formation, Evans and Newhook picking off pucks and throwing them deep into the visitors’ zone. Newhook would be the next to sit as his stick blade grazed the hand of Zellweger in a slightly hooking-looking fashion, and Zellweger’s sell-job earned the call. Montreal got their first clear when Tage Thompson bobbled the puck in Montreal’s zone again, and then the Habs were able to keep the blue and goal lines tied up. Dach made his appearance on the penalty kill as Evans rested.
– While battling in front of the net, Dobson was clipped by the puck up in his jaw and was cut wide open. He left the ice under his own power after a brief lie-down, but could clearly be seen leaking blood onto the white and into his hand. Montreal began to skate downhill as tick ticked away in the second period, and drew their next power play at 14:42. They opened the man advantage with quick passes to beat the killers and Caufield just missed his second of the night. The top unit had no issues gaining the zone and keeping it, but poor pass choice kept any further high-danger chances from occurring and the second unit had nothing going at all in their 40 seconds.
– Near the end of the period, as both teams spent time skating the length of the ice trading possession, Engstrom made an excellent play as he came off the bench to stop a breakaway. Benson capitalized on a poor change by the Habs defenders to feed Jack Quinn streaking towards the solitary goaltender, but Engstrom’s stretching stick knocked the puck in the air and harmlessly to the corner.
– Moments later, Anderson would double the lead following a glorious Hutson feed in the slot. With around 50 seconds to go, a dump-in by Montreal was kept in by Hutson and Bolduc. Hutson, with the puck at the point, beat his pressure with a smooth on-ice pass to Bolduc, 15 feet further into the zone than him. Bolduc curled up towards the blueline along the boards and fed Hutson back, the two skaters circling the two Buffalo defenders and leaving them behind as Hutson pivoted towards the net. The Calder winner made his deke and sent the backhand pass to Anderson to throw the puck into a gaping cage.
– Dobson returned to start the third period with no visible frontal damage. Caufield and Alexandre Texier both had great opportunities to add to the lead, the former just missing an open net and Texier getting stopped clean on a breakaway. The Canadiens struggled to make clean plays as time progressed into the final frame, and the top line had three giveaways of their own during separate shifts. Rather than clean puck control to close out a sleepy Buffalo Sabres team, Montreal elected to breathe life into their opponents by conceding two goals in just over a minute. Two deflection goals from the point tied the game at three, from Norris and Zellweger.
– Norris was able to sneak in a far shot after his line had easily gained Montreal’s zone in an even formation. He retrieved the puck from Montreal’s corner and carried it through the gut of the zone and to the center of the blueline, then spun and sent it on net. Engstrom earned another assist as the puck deflected off his screen and past Fowler. In similar fashion, Samuelsson dug a loose puck from Montreal’s corner and passed back to Benson, who was covering his spot at the point. Benson played catch with Zellweger out of Caufield’s range, before switching spots. Zellweger sent the puck towards the net and had the same results as when he did it in the first period.
– With just over five minutes left in the third period and the game knotted at three, Montreal had carried the pace of play for the vast majority of the game but needed to close their effort better than the entirety of the game already elapsed. With 2:29 remaining, the Habs gave up a two-on-one to Josh Doan and Jiri Kulich. Fowler was on hand to bail his defenders out, and the fans gasped as Buffalo barely missed the net twice in the scrum from the faceoff afterwards. Martin St. Louis rested his top players for the final thirty seconds, and Danault was denied on the doorstep with three seconds left before the overtime period.
Overtime!
– Montreal possessed the puck for 95% of the overtime, and spent the majority of that time looping the neutral zone, peering into the Buffalo formation for holes. Two individual rushes were made and shut down by Luukkonen, who was spectacular once more. Slafkovsky, having a rough start to the season, continued that by taking a brutally soft holding call in the offensive zone with just over thirty seconds left. Evans and Carrier paid the price to block final shots and cover the puck, sending the Habs to a second consecutive shootout.
Shootout!
Caufield scores
Thompson scores
Texier scores
Quinn is stopped by Fowler
Bolduc scores the winner!
HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars
1st Star – Jake Evans
The reliable bottom-six forward wore his ‘A’ tonight with grit and tenacity. He was a standout on the penalty kill and cost Buffalo at least two minutes himself across all of their power plays, on account of his positioning and snake-like stick skills. He almost ended the game in the dying seconds by feeding Danault, but his play otherwise easily earns him a star.
Stats: 2 blocks; 1 shot, 13:09 T.O.I
2nd Star – Lane Hutson
Montreal’s star defenceman was excellent on Tuesday, despite being on ice for Zellweger’s goal against. His two points directly impacted the game and his dynamic skating consistently backed off his coverage in the offensive zone. He played well with Dobson, and despite Dobson’s puck to the face, the pairing is expected to be good to go in Washington.
Stats: 1 goal; 1 assist; +1 rating; 2 shots; 1 block; 27:07 T.O.I
3rd Star – Jacob Fowler
With plenty of opportunities to give up a soft goal, Fowler was everywhere he needed to be for goals he had a reasonable chance against. Each goal during regulation was deflected by his own defenseman or in too tight to make an adjustment. Fowler made one stop during the shootout, the only stop he needed to make.
Stats: 13 SV, .824 SV%