The Buffalo Sabres took on the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night. Buffalo has not had the greatest start to the 2025-26 NHL season. But they entered this contest with two crucial wins over the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers. Unfortunately, the Sabres could not extend their winning streak to three games.
Jiri Kulich scored the first Buffalo goal in the second period. However, Juraj Slafkovsky and Oliver Kapanen both found the back of the net to help the hosting Habs to a 3-2 victory. The Canadiens have won five of their first seven games of the new season with this victory.
After the game, Kulich fielded questions from reporters. He explained what happened on the ice. More specifically, he identified a key difference that led his Sabres to drop this game on Monday night.
“To me the difference was they outcompeted us in the first period,” Kulich said, via NHL.com. “It was a wakeup call for us to jump to the second period like we did.”
Sabres fought until the end vs. Canadiens
The Sabres had some games this year where they did not put in a complete effort. It seemed as if this team sort of quit during some of these losses. At the very least, they allowed to let the negativity affect how hard they played on the ice.
Buffalo came out flat in the first period, as Kulich mentioned. However, they put more pressure on the Canadiens coming out of the first intermission. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff appreciated the effort they put in. In the end, they couldn't overcome the mistakes made.
“You know you’re in a tight game and we didn’t defend the rush well on the second goal, and we got caught with a couple of tired people on the third one. I liked our answer right after that to come back and score. We had another couple of good looks, but we were in a tight game and we didn’t find a way to win,” the Sabres coach said.
Buffalo still has a bit of confidence despite this loss. They can restore the rest of their belief on their upcoming three game homestand. The Sabres begin this homestand on Wednesday night against the red-hot Detroit Red Wings.
