Canadiens at Sabres
THE STORY: The Buffalo Sabres have been making a spirited charge toward a playoff berth ever since dropping a 4-3 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 17. Coach Lindy Ruff's club has collected 23 of a possible 30 points (10-2-3) since that contest and sits two points shy of eighth-place Washington in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres will conclude their season series with the Canadiens in western New York on Wednesday.
TV: 7 p.m., RSD, MSG
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (28-32-13): Montreal's aforementioned victory was its lone one in its last eight contests versus Buffalo. The Canadiens' troubles should not be linked to All-Star Carey Price, who has yielded a 1.94 goals-against average in his last seven starts against the Sabres. Unfortunately for Price, he was saddled with a 1-3-3 mark. Montreal suffered its second straight loss after dropping a 3-2 shootout setback to the New York Islanders on Saturday.
ABOUT THE SABRES (34-29-10): Captain Jason Pominville and rookie Marcus Foligno tallied twice on Monday as Buffalo erupted for its highest scoring output of the season with a 7-3 win over Tampa Bay. Pominville has collected four goals and three assists in his last seven games while Foligno has tallied five times in as many games since being called up from the American Hockey League. The lopsided victory was certainly welcome by Buffalo, which had played in four consecutive one-goal affairs.
OVERTIME:
1. Canadiens RW Aaron Palushaj finally recorded his first NHL goal on Saturday - after being recalled seven times and playing in 32 NHL games. "I was ecstatic to get my first goal," he said. "This is the first anniversary of my first NHL game and I was happy even if I didn't play much after that."
2. Buffalo D Tyler Myers is eligible to return following his three-game suspension for blasting Montreal's Scott Gomez from behind on March 12. Gomez has been sidelined since that hit with a concussion.