BUF@MTL: Game recap

MONTREAL – Patrik Laine and the Canadiens thumped the Buffalo Sabres 6-1 Tuesday on home ice.

Mascot Party

The fifth edition of the Canadiens Mascot Party took place at the Bell Centre. Joining Youppi! and METAL! were Sabretooth (Buffalo Sabres, NHL), Stinger (Columbus Blue Jackets, NHL), Bailey (Los Angeles Kings, NHL), Sparky (New York Islanders, NHL), Ellie the Elephant (New York Liberty, WNBA), and Viktor the Viking (Minnesota Vikings, NFL).

They arrived in style...

...and put their twerking skills to the test.

Roster 

With three goals against the Sabres, Laine registered his 11th career hat trick and became the third Finn to score the most hat tricks in the NHL, behind Jari Kurri and Teemu Selanne.

Hutson collected a pair of assists, boosting his season totals to 21 helpers and 22 points. According to NHL PR, he required the second-fewest games by a Canadiens rookie defenseman to record 20 assists in a season, behind Chris Chelios (30 GP in 1984-85).

Moreover, 12 different Habs registered points in tonight’s win.

For more stats, checkout the NHL Gamecenter summary here.

Montreal goals 

P1 00:19 0-[1] Armia (Evans, Heineman)

P1 06:26 0-[2] Laine (Suzuki, Slafkovsky) - PPG

P2 05:54 1-[3] Slafkovsky (Caufield, Savard)

P2 09:45 1-[4] Laine (Suzuki, Hutson) - PPG

P2 10:55 1-[5] Laine (Caufield, Hutson) - PPG

P2 19:15 1-[6] Anderson (Dvorak, Gallagher)

Buffalo goals 

P2 03:43 [1]-2 Cozens (Peterka, Power) 

What’s next 

The Canadiens will prepare for back-to-back games against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday (on the road) and Saturday (at home). Saturday’s game will be the Habs’ last home game of 2024 and Christmas at the Bell Centre presented by Canadian Tire. For tickets, click here. Both games are set for 7:00 p.m. ET.