Game #16
Montreal Canadiens (4-9-2) vs. Buffalo Sabres (7-7-1)
Puck Drop: 12:30 PM EDT | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, NY
TV: MSG
Know Your Opponent
Montreal Canadiens
Record: 4-9-2 | 10 PTS
Last Game: 4-1 loss to Toronto Maple Leafs
Division Ranking: 8th in Atlantic
PP: 22.0%
PK: 80.8%
What to Watch
1. If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It
The Sabres head into Monday’s matinee game on a three-game winning streak and looking to secure four in a row for the first time since January 2023. For a myriad reasons, this lineup has been working, and I would expect Lindy Ruff to keep rolling with it until it isn’t anymore. Both Dahlin and Byram had rest days on Sunday after logging huge minutes in Saturday’s win. Luukkonen has played a lot lately, but he’s certainly earned it. There have been a lot of bright spots this season for Buffalo, and this most recent winning streak has shown a lot of promise from the team. It’s now time to see what they can do against the struggling Canadiens, who have lost two straight and sit at the bottom of the Atlantic.
2. Gone Streaking
While the team as a whole is on a three-game winning streak, a handful of Sabres players are on their own hot streaks as of late, including:
- Tage Thompson: three-game point streak (3g, 1a) & points in 13/15 games this season
- JJ Peterka: three-game point streak (2g, 3a)
- Zach Benson: two-game point streak (2g, 1a)
- Alex Tuch: three points in his last four games (1g, 2a)
- Jason Zucker: four points in his last five games (1g, 3a)
- Ryan McLeod: four points in his last five games (0g, 4a)
3. Habs Leaders
Montreal is led by top-line center Nick Suzuki, who has 13 points in 15 games this season. His nine assists lead the team, while Cole Caufield’s 10 goals lead the team in that statistic. Suzuki and Caufield, however, have both been held off the scoresheet in each of the last four games.
Mike Matheson, another of the top scorers this season for the Habs, has also been held pointless for four straight games. But, on the flip side, Brendan Gallagher, ever the pest that he is, enters Monday’s game on a three-game point streak and has eight points – including seven goals – on the season thus far.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards
JJ Peterka – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Zach Benson – Dylan Cozens – Jack Quinn
Jordan Greenway – Ryan McLeod – Jason Zucker
Beck Malenstyn – Peyton Krebs – Sam Lafferty
Defense
Bowen Byram – Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power – Jacob Bryson
Dennis Gilbert – Connor Clifton
Goalies: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (projected starter), Devon Levi
Montreal Canadiens
Forwards
Juraj Slafkovsky – Nick Suzuki – Kirby Dach
Cole Caufield – Jake Evans – Alex Newhook
Brendan Gallagher – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson
Emil Heineman – Lucas Condotta – Joel Armia
Defense
Mike Matheson – Kaiden Guhle
Lane Hutson – David Savard
Arber Xhekaj – Jayden Struble
Goalies: Samuel Montembeault, Cayden Primeau