Music: {allcanada} CANADIENS (16-6-1) AT SABRES (6-14-2)

Thursday, November 27, 2014

{allcanada} CANADIENS (16-6-1) AT SABRES (6-14-2)

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Merry Christmas - Mariah Carey / White Christmas - Martina McBride

Friday, November 28, 2014

7:00 PM ET

CANADIENS (16-6-1) AT SABRES (6-14-2)

TV: RDS, SNE, MSG-B, BELL TV

Season series: On Nov. 5, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in a shootout. PA Parenteau scored in the third period, and then ended the game with a goal in the third round of the tiebreaker. Sabres goalie Jonas Enroth and Canadiens goalie Dustin Tokarski each made 31 saves in regulation and overtime. Montreal and Buffalo will play the back end of their home-and-home Saturday at Bell Centre.

Canadiens team scope: Montreal has not played since a 5-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. With four days between games, coach Michel Therrien gave his players two days away from the rink before reconvening Wednesday for practice. The Canadiens sit atop the Eastern Conference standings with 33 points, tied with the Anaheim Ducks for most in the NHL. "We're first in the League, so that's really positive," center David Desharnais said. "And the fun part about it is we can go another step higher. We've played some good games and some that weren't as good, then there were games where (goalie) Carey (Price) was incredible and he went and got us a win. So I think we can be better, and that's the beauty of it." Price is 13-4-1 with a 2.35 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. Tokarski played in New York on Sunday, meaning Price, who blanked the Boston Bruins in a 2-0 win Saturday, will have had five days off between starts if Therrien goes with him against the Sabres.

Sabres team scope: Buffalo had its three-game winning streak snapped Wednesday in a 2-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Defenseman Tyler Myers did not play because of a lower-body injury. He was replaced in the lineup by Andre Benoit, who committed a turnover that led to Michael Frolik's shorthanded, game-winning goal in the second period. The Sabres pulled to within a goal at 5:30 of the third period on Chris Stewart's second goal of the season, but they could not beat Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec with any of their six shots the rest of the way. Buffalo had 10 shots after two periods, then doubled that total in the third. "That first period and a half or so, I thought our hands were handling that puck like a grenade," coach Ted Nolan said. "It just kept bouncing and bouncing. That third period we played the way we have to in order to be successful." After this game, the Sabres will play three of four on the road.

Team Stats