(My Sportsbook) - If the Montreal Canadiens hope to make it a second straight spring in the postseason, they can't afford to lose to clubs like the Buffalo Sabres, whose problems go beyond being just a bad hockey team.

And that's exactly what occurred Wednesday night at HSBC Arena, as Miroslav Satan scored 3:49 into overtime to lift Buffalo over Montreal, 2-1.

The Habs did secure a point with the OT defeat, and now sit two points behind the Islanders and Lightning in the race for the final playoff slot in the East.

That deficit could be a single point, though.

"At this stage we need as many points as we can get," Julien said. "We needed the two points. One point wasn't good enough."

Making the Canadiens' climb even steeper is the fact that Tampa Bay has played two fewer games, and New York has played three less.

Jan Bulis lit the lamp for the Canadiens, who have dropped three of their last four tilts (1-1-0-2) on the heels of a two-game winning streak.

Satan picked up the loose puck in the neutral zone and raced down the left wing. When he reached the middle of the circle, Satan ripped a slap shot and beat Mathieu Garon five-hole for his 20th goal of the season.

Buffalo outshot Montreal, 3-2, in the extra session.

Garon stopped 28 shots for the Canadiens, while Ryan Miller made 25 saves for the Sabres. Garon started in place of Hart and Vezina winner Jose Theodore, who has struggled to start the stretch and is 1-6-0 in his last seven starts.

The Canadiens opened the scoring with the sole goal of the first period. At 16:37 Bulis received the puck in front of the net, turned around and beat Miller with a wrister up high to the stick side for his 13th goal of the year.

At 16:26 of the second, the Sabres reached the scoreboard courtesy of Vaclav Varada's sixth goal of the season. Dmitri Kalinin took the original shot, but Varada followed up the rebound and placed the puck under the crossbar from right outside the crease while Garon was on his back.

Buffalo outshot Montreal, 8-7, in a scoreless third period.

The contest failed to feature a power-play goal as Montreal had two opportunities with the extra skater and Buffalo had only one chance on the man-advantage.

UP NEXT

The Canadiens will host Toronto (Saturday), visit Washington (Monday) and welcome Minnesota (February 27) to round out the month.