Montreal Canadiens Hand Sabres Crushing 7-2 Defeat, Officially Locking Buffalo in Last Place

By Paul Hamilton, Buffalo Sabres Beat Writer

BUFFALO, NY — The Buffalo Sabres' struggles against the Montreal Canadiens continued on Monday night, as the Canadiens cruised to a 7-2 victory at HSBC Arena, marking the third consecutive loss to Montreal in just four games. The defeat, which was the most lopsided of the three, officially sealed the Sabres’ fate: with only one game remaining in the 1996 NFHL regular season, Buffalo has now confirmed it will finish last in the league for the third straight year.

From the opening faceoff, it looked like we finally had a game that might favor the home team. The Canadiens came out strong in the first period, pouring the shots on Schwab and taking an early 1 to 0 lead. The Sabres, however, responded with two quick goals from Yuri Khmylev, scoring his 17th and 18th of the season. The fans were out of their seats and excited to see the Sabres ahead early. Unfortunately the 2 goal outburst wasn't enough to keep the Sabres ahead for long. A pair of quick Canadiens goals at the end of the period put them back ahead of Buffalo 3 to 2 as time ran out in the 1st period.

Despite a strong showing from Sabres forward Khmylev, who was the lone bright spot on an otherwise grim night, Buffalo could not keep pace. a pair of goals from Tkachuk and Linden extended the Canadiens' lead to 5-2, and things quickly got worse. Sergei Fedorov added a late second-period goal for Montreal, leaving the Sabres trailing by four with only 20 minutes left to play. Mike Ricci scored another Powerplay goal for the Canadiens early into the 3rd period and the visitors managed to coast to an easy 7 to 2 win over the final 15 minutes of the game.

Jim Carey was pulled midway through the second period after allowing six goals on 23 shots, and Corey Schwab entered in relief, finishing with 12 saves on 14 shots. Patrick Roy, in contrast, was solid for Montreal, stopping 27 of the 29 shots fired his way by the team that drafted him. Buffalo’s offense was unable to break through the Canadiens' defense, going 0-for-3 on the power play and finding little success even at even strength.

It’s been a tough season for Buffalo, and tonight’s loss — paired with their recent stretch of poor performances against Montreal — has been a fitting end to an ultimately disappointing campaign. With one game left on the Buffalo Sabres' schedule against the Wales Conference-leading Hartford Whalers, It is very unlikely that the Sabres and their fans will have anything to cheer about going into the extended break.

With one game left to play, Buffalo can only look toward next season and the hope that a major turnaround will be in store. The Sabres will need to focus on rebuilding, addressing their special teams’ shortcomings, and making key adjustments in the off-season if they are to finally break free from the cellar of the NFHL standings.