The Montreal Canadiens have earned at least a point in five of their past six games heading into a Thursday road matchup against the Buffalo Sabres, but they will need to shake off a tough ending to their most recent performance.
The Canadiens took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission on Tuesday at Washington. The Capitals’ Ethen Frank scored twice in the third period, the second time with 1:54 left to tie the game, and Connor McMichael scored with 39 seconds left in overtime to give the hosts a 3-2 win.
“Anytime you’re up two goals going into the third, you should be able to win that hockey game,” Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher said.
The loss dropped the Canadiens to 4-1-1 in their past six games, but they remain in third place in the Atlantic Division. With just two points separating first through third in the division, giving up a late two-goal lead stung even more.
“It’s always disappointing, no matter what building you’re in, when you’re up 2-0 after two (and don’t win),” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “You’re playing an excellent game, even if you’re not doing anything spectacular, and just playing calculated, and you lack a bit of detail in the third.”
The Canadiens went 0-for-4 on the power play, including a 5-on-3 that covered 1:04 of the second period, keeping the Capitals within striking distance entering the third.
“We have good players out there,” St. Louis said of his special teams. “They did what they could. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t put the puck in the net there, and usually in 5-on-3s, if you score … you’re going to win the game, and we just didn’t score.”
Sam Montembeault made 39 saves for Montreal, but he took his first loss in four starts since completing a conditioning stint in the AHL.
Josh Anderson returned against Washington after missing six games with an upper-body injury, and the forward scored short-handed for the first goal of the game.
The Sabres won for the 14th time in their past 16 games on Wednesday, beating the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 5-2.
The result moved Buffalo into the first wild-card spot from the East, from sixth to fourth in the Atlantic Division and within five points of the Canadiens for third. Buffalo also has two games in hand on Montreal.
The Sabres scored their five goals against the Flyers on just 14 shots, their best shooting percentage in a game since 1988.
Two of the goals came from Rasmus Dahlin on the power play, making him the first Buffalo defenseman with multiple power-play goals in a game since Rasmus Ristolainen managed the feat on Dec. 10, 2015.
“Being a shoot-first guy tonight helped,” Sabres forward Josh Doan said of Dahlin, the team captain.
Buffalo forward Josh Norris left in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
“We’ll bring him in the morning, evaluate him and make a decision,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said of Norris.
Norris sustained an upper-body injury in the team’s season opener and missed the next 24 games.
The Canadiens won the first meeting of the season against the Sabres on Oct. 20, getting 30 saves from Jakub Dobes in a 4-2 home victory.
After Thursday, Buffalo and Montreal will meet two more times this month.
