Brendan Gallagher’s 200th career goal tied things up just before the midway point of the third period, and the visiting Montreal Canadiens eventually won 4-3 in a shootout against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.
With the Canadiens down 3-2, Gallagher leveled things when he rang the post via his milestone goal with 11:25 remaining in regulation. Jordan Harris and Alex Belzile also had goals, and Michael Pezzetta’s score in the sixth round of the shootout was the difference for Montreal (30-38-6, 66 points), which has won two straight to improve to 4-8-2 in March.
Lukas Rousek scored on his first NHL shot and added an assist in his league debut for the Sabres (35-31-7, 77 points), who are 4-8-3 since Feb. 28 and five points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. JJ Peterka and Riley Stillman also scored, while Eric Comrie made 38 saves for Buffalo, which played without star Tage Thompson (upper-body injury).
Comrie stopped all 26 shots he faced during a 2-0 victory against the New York Islanders on Saturday, but just three shots into this contest, Montreal had a 1-0 lead. A mere 1:22 into the opening period, Harris put home the rebound of a Comrie save.
However, just under 2 1/2 minutes later, the 23-year-old Rousek was in the right place to level the contest at 1-1. The sixth-round pick was positioned perfectly at the side of the Montreal net to put home Tyson Jost’s drive that banked off the back boards.
The Canadiens, though, regained the lead 4:28 into the second period when Belzile picked up a loose puck and drove it by Comrie. Less than 1:30 later, the Sabers equalized again, as Peterka banked the puck in off the right shoulder of Montreal netminder Jake Allen (30 saves).
Rousek then helped Buffalo earn its first lead of the night with 11:29 remaining in the second. He set up Stillman, who deked Allen for his first goal with the club since coming over from Vancouver last month.
–Field Level Media
