Tyson Kozak’s third-period goal ignited a frantic comeback push, but the Buffalo Sabres fell 4-2 to the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Monday.
The Sabres and Canadiens entered the third period tied 1-1. The Canadiens took the lead on goals from Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson, the latter of which put them ahead 3-1 with 8:12 remaining.
Kozak scored to cut the deficit in half with 7:30 left to play, after which the Sabres outshot the Canadiens 5-2. Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobes kept the tying goal from crossing to put the finishing touches on a 29-save performance, including 12 high-danger stops.
Alex Lyon started for the sixth straight game for Buffalo and stopped 27 of 30 shots.
Buffalo finished the game with a 71-58 lead in shot attempts.
Montreal controlled play in the opening period, earning a 14-6 edge in shots and taking a 1-0 lead on a goal from Oliver Kapanen. Buffalo flipped the script in the second period, leading 11-4 in shots and tying the game on a goal from Jiri Kulich.
Zach Benson tallied an assist on Kulich’s goal to extend his team-leading point total to six. He’s tallied at least one point in each of his three games played after missing the start of the season with a facial injury.
Zach Metsa made his NHL debut in place of Jacob Bryson, who remained in concussion protocol after exiting Saturday’s game against Florida. Metsa skated 9:02 and had a plus-1 rating.
The loss continued a run of six straight games for the Sabres against Atlantic Division opponents. The run opened with home wins against Ottawa and Florida and continues at home against Detroit on Wednesday.
