The Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres looked about as enthused about the game starting at 4:00 PM Eastern Time as you probably were yesterday. Each team possessed the puck and had a few shots on goal in the opening half of the first period, but there were no dangerous chances to speak of.
The degree of difficulty increased for Antti Niemi first, thanks to a point shot through traffic with over 12 minutes gone. He was saved by the post, but only temporarily as rookie Casey Mittelstadt was right at the side of the net to knock the rebound between the pipes for a 1-0 Sabres lead.