TLDR: Two Atlantic clubs still finding their footing meet at the Bell Centre on Tuesday, October 13. Only one of them gets to sleep in its own bed the night before.
Buffalo visits Montreal on the second night of a back-to-back, after hosting Florida on Monday, with an offense that scored 1 goal across its last 2 home losses. Montreal is without starter Sam Montembeault and Ivan Demidov but is coming off a 1-0 shootout win over Detroit, after allowing 17 goals in the 3 losses before it. The game likely turns on whether the Sabres' scoring returns and whether the Canadiens' backup goalies can repeat the Detroit performance.
+Held Detroit scoreless for 65 minutes without Montembeault
+2 days of rest at home while Buffalo travels
−Montembeault out 10-14 days, backups in net
−Demidov out 2-4 weeks with lower-body injury
−Allowed 6, 6 and 5 in the 3-game skid
Buffalo's problem right now is putting the puck in the net. As of Sunday the Sabres had lost 2 straight at home and scored 1 goal across them: a 4-0 shutout by Dallas, then a 4-1 loss to Utah in which the Mammoth scored the last 3 goals after a 1-1 first period. They can still win close games. They beat Chicago 4-3 and Minnesota 3-2, and Owen Power scored the winner in overtime against the Wild. But scoring 0 and 1 on home ice is the kind of stretch that turns a young season sour quickly.
The schedule doesn't help. Buffalo hosts Florida on Monday, so this is the second night of a back-to-back, with a border crossing in between. Neither crease is settled. The Sabres have split starts between Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who opened the season in Columbus, and Colten Ellis, who made his debut against Minnesota, and Alex Lyon is practicing but still on injured reserve. Montreal lost Sam Montembeault for 10-14 days after he hurt himself during an optional practice, which puts Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler in line for the work. Nobody has named a starter for Tuesday, and Monday's game in Buffalo will shape that more than anything said this weekend.
Montreal's last stretch has gone from one extreme to the other. The Canadiens allowed 17 goals in 3 straight losses, including a 6-5 overtime loss in Pittsburgh. Then, with Montembeault out, they held Dylan Larkin's Red Wings scoreless for 65 minutes, and Bolduc won it 1-0 in the shootout. The question for Tuesday is which one is real: the team that bled goals against Pittsburgh, Carolina and Nashville, or the one that shut down Detroit.
Both lineups are short. Montreal is without Ivan Demidov for 2-4 weeks with a lower-body injury. He had a goal and an assist in that Pittsburgh game before landing on IR, and Oliver Kapanen and Florian Xhekaj are also listed. For Buffalo, Jason Zucker is skating but still a few weeks from game action, and Conor Timmins has no timeline for his return. Montreal's absences are its high-end skill. Buffalo's are depth, at a time when the Sabres need goals from somewhere.
A lot of this preview depends on Monday night. If Buffalo finds its scoring against Florida, it arrives in Montreal with some confidence. If it doesn't, it arrives tired and still searching. Montreal gets 2 days off at home after the Detroit win. Puck drop is 6:30 PM ET, and the first 10 minutes should show which Sabres team made the trip.
Buffalo Sabres at Montreal Canadiens — Sabres Hit Montreal on a Back-to-Back With Habs Down Their Starter | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush
