Karine Hains Sun, October 18, 2026 at 7:30 PM UTC · 4 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the Montreal Canadiens ultimately got the two points out of their tilt with the Buffalo Sabres , they still gave up a point, and that point means the Sabres are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference while the Canadiens are ninth. Yes, it's early, but the Habs are falling in the same pattern that cost them home-ice advantage in the playoffs last season. They had 106 points, like the Tampa Bay Lightning , but regulation wins are the tiebreaker: Jon Cooper's men had 40, while the Canadiens had 34.
The problem is the Canadiens can't stay focused for a full 60 minutes to close out a regulation game. Saturday night's game against the Sabres was a good example. When Montreal led 3-1 and was on the power play, Jack Quinn cleared the puck deep into the Habs zone. Zach Benson beat Dobson to the puck and moved it before the Canadiens' defenseman could do anything. The puck made its way to the front of the net, and it was the same Quinn who was first to the puck in front of Jacob Fowler, a step ahead of Lane Hutson, who could only watch. Those are the kind of small mental errors the coach talked about in his post-game media availability:
It has to be better than this from that angle: how we behave on the ice. We play good games, but small mental errors creep in at times and hurt us. I'm generally proud of how we play as a team and all that, but those small mental errors…you lead by two; it should be over.
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Then, on Buffalo's third goal, three Habs were between Josh Doan and Tage Thompson, and none could cut the cross-zone pass Doan sent to Thompson on the doorstep. The puck even crossed the crease on that play. After the game, Fowler also explained:
I feel like we played pretty good, kind of like it was awesome, a lot of big blocks tonight. We've been playing a lot of these games where the other goalie makes some big saves, and it comes down to textual hockey there. I feel I could have got a couple of sticks on a couple of those passes there not to give up some of those goals, but you know, Cole doing what he does on Saturday.
Asked about his team's power play and the fact that the Habs had once again surrendered the lead, the bench boss added:
It was okay, but we're better than this. […] It would be fun to put the final nail in the coffin. Buffalo is not an easy team to play with a lead; they play a wide-open game, and you have to be calculated in your actions. Even in the offensive zone, you can't make a risky incomplete play; they thrive on that. They're just waiting for you to try a play and fail, and then they take it the other way. You have to be patient and manage the puck in the offensive zone. It's not necessarily about manufacturing a scoring chance, but it's about managing the puck and forcing them to defend. When you can extend your time in the offensive zone and force them to defend, even if you make a risky play that ends up incomplete, they're too tired to take advantage of it. But if you do that early, they pounce on the attack, and it's not three guys attacking; it's all hands on deck.
The coach explained how hard it is to balance killer instinct with patience and calculation. Of course, padding your goal total is always the aim of a team that's playing with the lead, but you need to pick your moment to attack without leaving yourself vulnerable. In a boxing match, if you try to land a big uppercut and take too much of a wind-up, you leave yourself open to a quick jab, which you must avoid. There's no magic recipe for avoiding that; it comes from experience, and while the Canadiens' core has been together for a few seasons, they remain one of the league's youngest and least experienced teams. St-Louis knows they shouldn't be dropping points like that, especially not to division rivals, but that's part of the team's growing pains.
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Source: Sport
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