Victor Olofsson and Anders Bjork scored 2:01 apart in the second period, and the Buffalo Sabres followed a tumultuous summer with a stunning season-opening 5-1 win over the injury-depleted Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
Overcoming initial questions of lacking offence and leadership with deposed captain Jack Eichel’s future in Buffalo uncertain, assistant captains Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons stepped up to generate Buffalo’s first two goals in a game the Sabres never trailed. Eichel was stripped of his captaincy last month and remains on injured reserve over a dispute with the team over how to treat a herniated disk which has sidelined him since March.
Forty-year-old Craig Anderson stopped 30 shots in his debut with his sixth NHL team.
While Buffalo looked nothing like the team that finished last in the NHL standings for the fourth time in eight seasons, the Canadiens didn’t come close to resembling the team that reached the Stanley Cup Final, before losing in five games to Tampa Bay in July.
Montreal was coming off a 2-1 season-opening loss at Toronto on Wednesday, and opened a season 0-2 for the first time since 2000.
WATCH | Sabres lean on power-play to defeat Canadiens:
.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
Buffalo scores three power-play goals in their 5-1 victory over Montreal. 1:03
Chris Wideman scored for Montreal, and Sam Montembeault stopped 31 shots in his Canadiens’ debut after being acquired off waivers from Florida two weeks ago.
The Canadiens have eight players on IR, including captain Shea Weber and goalie Carey Price, who last week entered the NHL/NHL Players’ Association joint player assistance program.
The fallout from the Sabres’ off-season player purge, Eichel’s dispute and 10-season playoff drought was evident with the stands appearing to not even be half full in an arena with a 19,200 capacity. The Sabres did not announce the attendance. One fan showed up early wearing a paper bag over his head and an Eichel jersey.
Olofsson scored shortly after a two-man advantage ended by snapping a shot from the right circle with 2:55 remaining in the second period.
Girgensons, who missed all of last season with a hamstring injury, then played a key role on Bjork’s goal. After blocking a shot in Buffalo’s end, Girgensons led a three-on-two break before having his initial shot stopped, with Bjork converting the rebound to the right of the net.
Sabres centre Casey Mittelstadt did not return after sustaining an upper body injury midway through the second period.
WATCH | 9 things you need to know for the 2021-2022 NHL season:
![](https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/36/482/Canadian_questions_THUMB.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
The 7 Canadian teams are no longer all in the same division, which leaves a lot of questions. Rob Pizzo breaks some of them down. 6:03
More Stories
It’s ‘a labour of love’ on and off the rink as Ontario roller derby team preps for playoffs in U.S. | CBC News
FIBA Men’s 3X3 Basketball World Tour: DAY 2 – Utsunomiya
CBC Sports Late Night: 2024 Athletics Wanda Diamond League – Shanghai – Suzhou