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The one question going into the NHL season about the Montreal Canadiens, a consensus pick to win the Eastern Conference, was whether Carey Price could build upon the promise he showed as a rookie.

There were some doubts, since the Canadiens goaltender followed his remarkable 2007-08 regular season (2.56 goals-against average, .920 save percentage) with a mediocre postseason as the Canadiens were upset in the second round of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers. However, Price shed close to 30 pounds over the summer and assuaged the doubts with a strong showing in the preseason.

He took another step forward last night in the Canadiens' season opener, even though the Buffalo Sabres won 2-1 in a shootout. Though Price gave up two shootout goals, to Ales Kotalik and Drew Stafford to lose a goaltending duel to Ryan Miller of the Sabres, he could still argue he was the best player on a terribly soft and choppy ice surface at HSBC Arena.

Price stopped 35 shots through regulation time and overtime, as the crowd of 18,690 grew increasingly impatient with the Sabres. But they were rewarded when Miller, who had his moments during the game, blanked the Canadiens in the shootout.

"It was a pretty frustrating game," said Price, a quiet fellow who lets his game do his talking. "Sometimes you win those games and sometimes you lose them. At least we got a point for getting to the shootout. But I wish the shootout went a little better. You can't win them all."

The Canadiens left for Toronto right after the game, and will finish back-to-back road games by playing the Maple Leafs tonight at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs can count themselves lucky because this means Price will get a rest tonight and backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak will start against them in their home opener.

Despite opening the season by letting a win slip away, Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau was satisfied.

"It was a hard game because the ice was really bad," he said. "Both teams were shaky with the puck.

"[Price] played really well. And he played well in every preseason game. I'm sure he wants the shootout back, but if he plays like that every night he will get his chances."

The Canadiens' only goal was scored by newcomer Robert Lang, who put one by Miller on his first shift to give the Habs a 1-0 lead in the first two minutes.

"It was a lot nicer to do it that way than wait 10 games for it," he said of his first goal with the Canadiens. "I thought both goalies played unbelievable."

Price kept the Canadiens in the game after the Sabres came back hard after Lang's goal. Tomas Vanek scored for the Sabres at 7:40 of the opening period.

They could not get another puck past the 21-year-old sophomore and the score stood at 1-1 until the shootout.

The best example of Price's work came when he victimized Sabres winger Daniel Paille twice in the second period, leaving the 24-year-old native of nearby Welland, Ont., talking to himself. The Canadiens goaltender slid across his crease on both occasions, taking away wide-open side-to-side scoring chances with his anticipation.

First, Price stopped Paille on a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush early in the period after he took a lateral pass and then he slid the opposite way late to steal a one-timer from him about 10 minutes later.

The latter chance came just a couple of minutes after the Canadiens were robbed themselves of their best scoring chance of the period. Montreal defenceman Roman Hamrlik whipped a high wrist shot that beat Miller. The puck hit him but Miller could not grab it and it dropped into the crease and rolled up to the goal line. But Buffalo defenceman Toni Lydman swooped in and knocked the puck away.

Price's teammates finally matched his efforts late in the third period when they killed off six minutes in penalties. The first Sabres power play was four minutes long but the Canadiens held them to a single shot, although it was a point-blank chance for Vanek that was blocked by Price.

"That was huge," Carbonneau said. "Taking four-minute and two-minute penalties at the end put some stress on our club but we killed them. For the first game, I was pretty happy."

Centre Tim Connolly was a late scratch for the Sabres because of a hairline fracture to a vertebrae in his back. But Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said he does not expect Connolly "to be a question mark for more than a week."