MONTRÉAL — The Canadiens survived Buffalo’s third-period comeback and converted all three of their shootout attempts to defeat the Sabres 4–3 Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

Cole Caufield, Alexandre Texier and Zachary Bolduc each scored in the shootout. Tage Thompson converted Buffalo’s first attempt, but Jack Quinn could not beat Montréal goaltender Jacob Fowler.

The victory was Montréal’s second straight in a shootout. Bolduc had also scored the only shootout goal in Saturday’s 1–0 win over Detroit.

Buffalo erased a 3–1 deficit

Olen Zellweger opened the scoring for Buffalo at 2:16 of the first period. Lane Hutson answered on a Montréal power play at 14:28, recording his first goal of the season.

Caufield gave the Canadiens the lead 1:19 into the second period, and Josh Anderson made it 3–1 with 50 seconds remaining in the frame.

Buffalo pulled even early in the third. Josh Norris scored at 4:24 before Zellweger’s second goal of the game tied it 61 seconds later. Neither team scored during the remainder of regulation or five-minute overtime.

Montréal carried the shot advantage

The NHL’s official game summary recorded 38 shots for Montréal and 17 for Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 35 of the 38 shots he faced, while Fowler made 14 saves.

Hutson and Caufield each finished with a goal and an assist. Juraj Slafkovský recorded two assists, and Zellweger scored twice for the first multi-goal game of his 170-game NHL career.

The Canadiens improved to 3–2–1. Buffalo moved to 3–3–1 after collecting one standings point.

Official sources clarify the shootout

Field Level Media’s initial report identified Texier as the deciding scorer. NHL.com described Bolduc’s third Montréal conversion as the clinching attempt, while the league’s statistical game summary assigns the recorded shootout goal to Texier under its scoring convention. All three official accounts agree that Caufield, Texier and Bolduc scored and that Montréal won 4–3.

The Canadiens return to action Wednesday in Washington against the Capitals.

Sources: Field Level Media via Reuters, October 14; NHL.com game recap; Montréal Canadiens postgame recap; NHL official game summary.

Lead image: official Montréal Canadiens postgame graphic, October 14, 2026, via Canadiens.com/NHL.com.