Stop me if you've heard this before: the Montreal Canadiens have entered the history books.
NHL scores 2015: Canadiens beat Buffalo to remain historically unbeaten
A win over the Sabres ensures Montreal an 8-0 start and a shot at breaking an old NHL record.
Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Yes, that phrase has entered the hockey lexicon at least 24 times in the history of the NHL. One for each of their Stanley Cup wins. But on Friday, Les Habitants joined a very different kind of historic NHL group, defeating the Buffalo Sabres on the road to go 8-0-0 to start the season. They're the first team to do so since the Sabres themselves in the 1975-76 season.
The Canadiens did so against a Sabres team that put up a strong fight for the first half of the game, answering Montreal’s opening two goals with two tallies of their own. But then the Habs let loose like they have all season and Buffalo couldn’t shut the floodgates.
The old guard, Andrei Markov scored. The new captain, Max Pacioretty scored. The backup goalie Mike Condon held down the fort with 34 saves. Montreal got help from every player when they needed to put the game away for good. Like they have all season.
The NHL record for most consecutive victories to start a season belongs to the 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs and 2006-07 Sabres with 10 wins each. The record is well within reach. Toronto visits the Bell Centre on Saturday before the Habs hit the road in Vancouver and Edmonton. There’s no reason to doubt Montreal could win all three of those games and break a decades-old record the way they’re playing.
Scores
Kings 3, Hurricanes 0
Capitals 7, Oilers 4
Flames 3, Red Wings 2 (OT)
Lightning 4, Jets 3 (OT)
Bruins 5, Islanders 3
Canadiens 7, Sabres 2
3 things we learned
1. The Jets are fun to watch this year
It might be easy to overlook Winnipeg when choosing a team to watch any given night (in a division filled with the likes of Dallas, Chicago and Colorado that's natural) but they can put on a show when they want to. Behind the drive of Blake Wheeler and the wheels of rookie Nikolaj Ehlers, the Jets battled the Lightning to a standstill before eventually falling in overtime. But they were more than a match for Tampa Bay's high-octane offensive prowess on Friday, which was a pleasant surprise.
And don’t sleep on Ehlers in the Calder Trophy race. The kid might have the best raw skills of any rookie not named Eichel or McDavid, with flash to burn.
2. Calgary is still the king of the late game
Remember how unbeatable the Flames were late in games last year? Apparently not much has changed. Calgary finished first with nine overtime wins and second in third-period goal differential last year. That crunch-time expertise appeared against the Red Wings on Friday, as the Flames erased a 2-1 deficit before schooling Detroit in 3-on-3 hockey in overtime to earn a much-needed win.
3. Jack Eichel isn't the only Sabres rookie to gush about
Sam Reinhart would like to remind you he was also drafted second overall once upon a time. And he is also very good.
Matt Moulson from Reinhart and Franson, 2-1 Montreal pic.twitter.com/mnfHFMYmaB
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 24, 2015 Impact Moment
The Oilers invented a new form of penalty killing on Friday: the Conga Line.
The rarely seen "line" penalty kill. It's about as effective as you'd think. pic.twitter.com/9vaIkkRZrc
— Jonathan Willis (@JonathanWillis) October 24, 2015 They gave up seven goals.
Stat of the Night
I know it was a high scoring game, but "0 goals in the third period" isn't really a stat pic.twitter.com/cTyeTzUzbS
— Travis Hughes (@TravisSBN) October 24, 2015 Sigh. Fine. We’ll try again.
Stat of the Night
David Krejci and Blake Wheeler are streaking.
Per @EliasSports: David Krejci of the @NHLBruins and his seven-game season-opening point streak... pic.twitter.com/jCiKV0gjFu
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 24, 2015 B. Wheeler is 2nd in @NHLJets franchise history to post a point in each of team’s 1st 7 games of a season. Other: ATL’s D. Audette - 2000-01
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 24, 2015 Post to post
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