The Montreal Canadiens were in Buffalo on Saturday night, looking to extend their winning streak to three games while facing a very solid Sabres squad.
It was a hard-fought game between two teams on the rise that saw the Canadiens emerge with a 4-2 win.
Jakub Dobes, who hasn’t lost in regulation since December 9, stopped 38 of the 40 shots sent his way to secure the victory.
Let’s dive into the highlights!
Quick Play Offence
If there’s one obvious criticism of Montreal’s powerplay prowess, it’s that they have a habit of overpassing at times.
To be more accurate, they generate more passes than every hall monitor in the school history, combined.
At times, they tend to take a lackadaisical approach while stringing three hundred and forty-seven passes in a row, but that simply won’t work against a team such as the Sabres, which takes a more aggressive approach on the penalty kill than most clubs.
Fortunately for the Canadiens, quick, crisp passing was on the menu in the first period, leading to Juraj Slafkovsky‘s 21st goal of the season, a new career high for the 21-year-old Slovak.
Great puck movement on the powerplay gives the #GoHabsGo a 1-0 lead.
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 1, 2026
Slafkovsky's 21st goal of the year: pic.twitter.com/rSCd00sL9D
Consistently Undisciplined
The Sabres are a very difficult stylistic matchup for the Habs. They’re a little faster, which means Montreal can’t impose their style of play, which uses speed through the neutral zone to generate controlled entries.
Buffalo shuts down the skating lanes, which leads to a bogged-down mix of low-quality chances for their opponents.
For example, they only allowed the Habs to create four high-danger chances at 5v5 after 40 minutes, while they generated 11 of their own.
However, the Canadiens could do themselves a favour by implementing some semblance of discipline to their game plan, rather than playing as if they’re raiding Spanish ships as part of Edward Teach’s crew.
On Saturday, Lane Hutson stood out as one of the most undisciplined players, but it’s clearly a team-wide issue that has plagued the organization for several seasons.
With that in mind, the Sabres built a 2-1 lead via, believe it or not, the powerplay.
Without trying to take the credit away from the Sabres, you could argue the Canadiens offered a chaotic defensive setup, to say the least.
Ostlund makes it 2-1 Sabres on the powerplay. pic.twitter.com/AKjrTjbvNc
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 1, 2026
It’s What He Does Best
In his first few seasons in the league, Cole Caufield essentially scored the majority of his goals by beating the goaltenders with clean shots from some distance.
He still does that, at times, but he’s also expanded his goal-scoring repertoire significantly, including short-side stuffs, wraparounds, rebounds, and as we saw on Saturday, tips.
Caufield’s 31st goal of the year tied the game at 2-2, with Noah Dobson and Lane Hutson providing the assists.
Now that's a smart play by Caufield. A perfect redirection of the Dobson pass ties the game at 2-2. #GoHabsGo
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 1, 2026
Caufield's 31st goal of the season. pic.twitter.com/1AdF5Ma6EH
Caufield took it one step further in the third period, scoring his 32nd goal of the year after a solid forecheck by Kirby Dach, and yet another smart assist from Nick Suzuki.
The goal gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead with roughly 10 minutes left in regulation.
Cole Caufield doesn't do what Cole Caufield does FOR Cole Caufield.
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 1, 2026
Cole Caufield does what Cole Caufield does BECAUSE Cole Caufield is Cole Caufield.
Habs are up 3-2. Caufield's 32nd of the year, assists to Dach and Suzuki. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/6epURc1tRO
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Monday, facing the Wild in Minnesota. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.
