Sabres power play keys opening win against Canadiens

BUFFALO --Zemgus Girgensons had a goal and an assist for the Buffalo Sabres in a 5-1 win in their season opener against the Montreal Canadiens at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

Girgensons, who scored on a redirection at 17:35 of the first period to make it 2-0, was playing in his first game since March 9, 2020, after missing all of last season because of hamstring surgery.
"Definitely (special), and especially having the fans back," Girgensons said. "I know I didn't play without fans, but the excitement. I was very excited. I usually nap, so it was hard to nap today. You know, you kept thinking about the game. I was kind of like a kid again going to hockey practice."
Victor Olofsson also had a goal and an assist, and Jeff Skinner, Colin Miller and Jacob Bryson each had two assists for the Sabres, who scored three goals on the power play. Craig Anderson made 30 saves.

Chris Wideman scored, and Sam Montembeault made 31 saves for the Canadiens, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back following a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
"They deserved to win, they got the result that they deserved," Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher said. "We didn't put in the work to be the team celebrating right now. So we respond. It's obviously early in the season, but these points at the beginning of the year are critical. You don't want to put yourself in a hole, so obviously to start 0-and-2, there's a lot of urgency on the next one."
Kyle Okposo gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 6:40 of the first period, taking a pass from Bryson and beating Montembeault short side from the top of the right circle.
"Great leadership qualities. A guy that does the work in daily," Anderson said of Okposo. "Says the right things, does the right things. And you know, it shows tonight that he's got some offensive skill and offensive ability to chip in. … A guy like that that we can all look to, that does it right on a daily basis is something that I think is monumental."

Wideman cut it to 2-1 at 9:33 of the second period when he was left uncovered at the right side of the net. It was his first goal since Oct. 13, 2018, when he scored twice for the Ottawa Senators against the Los Angeles Kings. Wideman played in the American Hockey League in 2019-20 and in the KHL last season.
Olofsson scored on the power play from the right circle at 17:05 to put Buffalo ahead 3-1, and Anders Bjork pushed it to 4-1 at 19:04, pouncing on the rebound at the side of the net after Girgensons' shot hit Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot.
"In the first period, we were bad in every aspect, including the way we were competing," Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said. "We didn't play to our team identity, that's for sure. We had a better start to the second, and then the penalties we took hurt us."
Tage Thompson extended the lead to 5-1 with another power-play goal at 4:29 of the third period. Olofsson's initial shot from the right circle was blocked and bounced out to Thompson, who shot top shelf from the left circle.
"You could see the emotion on the bench, on the ice, in the crowd, everywhere tonight," Okposo said. "It was a full-building effort tonight from us and we definitely drew off the fans, drew some energy from them, and it was great to have them back in the building. It makes a huge difference. But yeah, I thought we rolled tonight. I thought special teams were really good. A little bit out of rhythm of the game there in the second, or first and second, but 5-on-5 I thought we played a full team game."
NOTES: Sabres center Casey Mittelstadt left in the second period with an upper-body injury. Coach Don Granato did not have an update after the game. … The win tied Buffalo's largest margin of victory in a season opener in its history, with the most recent occurrence happening against the New York Islanders on Oct. 10, 2002 (also 5-1). … The Canadiens are 0-2-0 to start the season for the first time since 2000-01.