The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, the second game of the week between the Atlantic Division rivals.

The game featured the season debut for two members of the Canadiens: forward Oliver Kapanen and defenceman David Reinbacher. To make way for them in the lineup, Adam Engstrom and Owen Beck were relegated to the press box as healthy scratches.

As per tradition, regulation was not enough to decide a winner, but sniper Cole Caufield secured the win 4-3 win for the Canadiens by doing what he does best: scoring clutch goals.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Rough Start

The first goal of the game was authored by the Sabres, who established a 5-0 advantage in shots midway through the first period. Given that it was Reinbacher’s first game of the season, we must guard against criticizing him too harshly for the brutal giveaway that led to the goal. It was a poor decision, and a chaotic aftermath, but such is life when you’re still learning on the job in the best league on earth.

It will take Reinbacher time to acclimatize to the speed of the NHL, while ensuring he doesn’t add an extra dose of panic to the mix.

The good news is that the Canadiens immediately responded to the early deficit, thanks to an excellent tip by winger Zachary Bolduc while on the powerplay.

Bolduc, 23, needs to show a significant uptick in consistency this season. He’s off to a great start, with four goals and two assists in eight games, however, if his production dips he’s at risk of being removed from situations that are conducive to scoring. It may not sound fair, but he’s fighting for prime minutes on a top team.

Saturday Night Live

No one does it better than Cole Caufield.

Literally.

He’s far and away the most productive play on Saturday nights, and he kept a firm grip on his title by scoring the go-ahead goal versus the Sabres. It wasn’t particularly pretty, but I’d argue that’s a good sign. There was a point when Caufield would only score goals with clean shots from distance. Nowadays, he has multiple options in his tool kit.

Full marks to Juraj Slafkovsky, who used excellent stick work to provide the crucial assist.

Secondary Scoring

The Canadiens established a two-goal lead midway through the second period, via Alexandre Texier’s first goal of the season.

He’s another player who is fighting for more minutes, and while he’s done reasonably well from an underlying statistics standpoint, he must join Bolduc on the consistency train. That’s much easier said than done, though Texier can help out his own cause by continuing to head to high-danger scoring areas, as he did when he capitalized on the point shot by defenceman Kaiden Guhle that generated a juicy rebound.

There It Is

While both Bolduc and Texier aim for consistency, the bigger issue is that the Habs tend to lose focus every single night. Whether it’s the second or third period, every game features a collapse of some sort, with multiple two-goal leads already wasted this season.

The unfortunate phenomenon occurred once again on Saturday night, though the shambolic play carried over from the second period into the third, starting with a shorthanded marker by Jack Quinn. Tage Thompson tied the game midway through the third period, in what can only be described as a comedy of errors and blown defensive coverage.

On the flip side of the coin, despite their split focus, the Habs also happen to have one of the most talented goalscorers in the league in their lineup, a veritable cheat code, especially on Saturdays.

With the Canadiens firmly in control of the momentum, Caufield scored his second goal of the game, yet another excellent shot that gave the opposing netminder no chance to make the save.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Tuesday, facing the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.