This GIF of Bob Barker beating up Adam Sandler in 'Happy Gilmore' basically sums up Tuesday's game between the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres. There really wasn't a lot to like for the Sabres in the first 40 minutes, falling to the Canadiens 5-2, despite outshooting Montreal 39-35.
Bob Barker is the #Canadiens offense
Adam Sandler is the #Sabres defense pic.twitter.com/0TX2GUTKWJ
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) February 1, 2017
Five observations from Tuesday's loss:
Bogosian and Franson....Ouch
Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian (-5) was on the ice for all five of Montreal's goals. Bogosian, along with his partner Cody Franson (-3) finished the night with a combined -8 plus/minus rating. By no means is plus/minus a perfect stat -- but that's unheard of.
The pair was just starting to get some chemistry and had been playing some of their best hockey of the season, especially together, but that all came to an end in the first two periods on Tuesday.
By the third period, the pair was broken up -- but that didn't stop Montreal from scoring their fifth goal with Zach Bogosian on the ice. With injuries still to Jake McCabe and Josh Gorges, the Sabres don't really have any other options on the blue line. It will be interesting to see if the pair is reunited on Thursday when the Sabres take on the Rangers.
The worst period of the season?
When we look back at the 49 games the Sabres have played this season there have been plenty of bad periods. On Tuesday they may have played their worst, which is truly saying something.
Montreal dominated all aspects of the second twenty-minute stretch and put the game away before the third period even started.
Get this: In the second period, the Sabres have allowed 17 more goals than they've scored this year. Crazy, especially when you consider that they have a -21 goal differential this season.
Folig-NO
It wasn't a very good game for Sabres forward Marcus Foligno. To be fair, it wasn't a very good game for really anyone wearing a white jersey, but Foligno really struggled.
Earlier today I actually praised Foligno for how well he's played lately, but on Tuesday that wasn't the case.
His biggest blunders came on Montreal's first two goals. On the first goal, Foligno turned the puck over and turned a Sabres rush into a Canadiens goal.
In the second period Foligno, along with his linemates, failed to cover Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty in front of the net. You should probably cover a guy who has 23 goals.
By the end of the second period, Foligno had been demoted off the Eichel and Reinhart line (He returned a few times in the third). For both Foligno and his linemates sake, I'd like to see him return to his usual spot on Thursday against the Rangers. Like I said earlier, he's been pretty good this season but on Tuesday he could've played a lot better.
Everybody gets a giveaway!
Imagine the Sabres as Oprah and the Canadiens as the studio audience. On Tuesday the Sabres gave the puck away WAY too many times in the first two periods.
It cost the Sabres big on Montreal's first goal (Foligno play) and third goal of the evening when Cody Franson basically passed the puck to the wrong team. Buffalo finished the evening with 18 turnovers, but they had 14 halfway through the second period.
Lehner gets no help
Less than two weeks ago Robin Lehner stole a win in Montreal for the Sabres. On Tuesday he got very little help and was left out to dry by his teammates. It is hard to say a goaltender who let in five goals played well, and while I don't think Lehner was good, I don't think he was bad either.
