While an injury-riddled Montreal Canadiens team was busy squandering a 2-0 lead en route to a 3-2 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres, there was some major league hot stove action going on down in Boston.

After watching his Bruins lose 4-3 to the Maple Leafs, with two goals coming from Phil Kessel no less, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli pulled the trigger on a deal to acquire Ottawa Senators centre Chris Kelly. All the while, it appears Chiarelli is in talks with his old pal Brian Burke in an effort to grab Tomas Kaberle for his woeful power play.

However, as the night came to an end, Chiarelli and his Canadiens counterpart Pierre Gauthier found themselves in very similar situations – their two teams were tied in points and both were dealing with major injuries.

It's clear how Chiarelli will address his situation, going on Boston radio recently guaranteeing a trade will be made by the deadline, then coming through Tuesday night with 10 days to spare. And he likely isn't finished.

But what will Gauthier do to counter?

If he's looking for a suggestion (he isn't), I've got one for him: do nothing.

I propose he do absolutely nothing, at least not of the major variety.

Sure, if Gauthier wants to add a depth defenceman, or go get some toughness like a Zenon Konopka for a late round draft pick, go ahead.

But as we get closer and closer to Feb. 28, the price on real impact players will only rise even though the supply should grow as more teams fall out of the playoff race. Why? Because the buying teams will start to show more desperation, and the selling teams will likely prey on it.

Let the kids play

Frankly, the Canadiens are not in a situation where the addition of one or two players could mean the difference between a Cup run and a first round exit.

But another reason I would show some prudence comes out of what we saw Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

For the second time in as many games against the Sabres, the Canadiens were a shell of a team.

Back on Jan. 18, already missing Benoit Pouliot, forwards began dropping like flies. Max Pacioretty, Mike Cammalleri and Jeff Halpern didn't finish the game.

Still, the Canadiens made it to overtime and got themselves a point.

This time around, Hal Gill and Jaroslav Spacek were missing from a defensive corps that is already depleted by the season-ending injuries to Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges. They were facing a team that had gone 12-4-2 in their previous 18 games, one desperately trying to erase a nightmarish start to the season and make the playoffs.

Yet, again in spite of all the reasons they had to lay down, the Canadiens played a solid game.

Yes, they blew a 2-0 second period lead. Yes, they failed to capitalize on a power play that stretched 35 seconds into overtime. Yes, they were leading 2-0 in the shootout.

But ignoring all those factors, it would be unreasonable to say that getting a point out of this game is a failure of some sort.

So what does this have to do with Gauthier's trade intentions?

Well, once again coach Jacques Martin praised his kids for leading the charge. Pacioretty had the type of game that is starting to become commonplace for him, scoring a goal to give him 12 points in his last 11 contests.

P.K. Subban was simply phenomenal, logging nearly 30 minutes of ice time, getting a team-high six shots on goal, blocking four shots and making a positive impact on essentially every shift.

Benoit Pouliot ran his goal streak to three games and David Desharnais saw his points streak go to four games.

Yannick Weber was mentioned by Martin specifically after the game, largely because he had the task of helping ease Brendon Nash into his first NHL game, and did so admirably.

The point I'm trying to make here is that all of these players are improving with every game, so why not let them improve and flourish in the roles they have now?

Experience will have long term benefits

Hang on to those high draft picks or minor league players and see what happens when Subban is placed in a situation where he needs to elevate his game. See what happens when Pacioretty has 24 more games of maturity in him. See what happens when Weber is playing with a veteran partner against opposing team's third and fourth lines. See what happens when a healthy Cammalleri is thrown in the mix. See if the injuries to Gill and Spacek don't turn out to be blessings in disguise, with both coming back a little more refreshed and energized for the final stretch.

In an ideal world, this team would have a big, physical scorer playing among the top-six forwards, and a bruising defenceman that can kill penalties to play on the back end. But this is far from an ideal time of year to add those pieces because the price is so high.

And really, for the long term, is not better to have your young players go through this experience of trying to embark on a playoff run than to add a rental that could disrupt what appears to be solid team chemistry?

Gauthier said his first goal is to have his team consistently among the top third of the league, and as of right now they are seventh in the NHL in points. As the youngsters go through this process of trying to maintain that position, perhaps the experience gained will make that top-third standing more of a regular occurrence.