Montreal, Quebec (WGR Sports Radio 550) - For the second time in a week, the Buffalo Sabres took care of the Montreal Canadiens in regulation. "Four-point" swing games are massive when it comes to a playoff push, and once again the Sabres were on the right side of the head-to-head decision.
The Sabres made a statement inside the first minute of the game. Jack Quinn gathered a pass from Ryan McLeod, flew through the neutral zone and dished off to Jason Zucker for a quick one-timer with the night just 44-seconds old.
With about five-minutes left in the opening frame, the Sabres doubled the lead. At the tail end of a penalty kill, Beck Malenstyn worked his way behind the Canadiens' powerplay unit. One power move later, Malenstyn slipped home a short-handed goal; his fourth goal of the season overall.
Buffalo extended its lead to three just 2:22 into the middle stanza. Much like two nights ago in Nashville, the youthful line of Zach Benson, Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius made an impact on the scoresheet.
Helenius located Benson situated on the far post, and while not succeeding on his first attempt, Benson batted the puck into the net to make it 3-0 Sabres.
Montreal was able to solve Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen about 90-seconds later, and pull within two goals of the blue and gold. Forward Cole Caufield wired a shot past Luukkonen from between the circles to make it a 3-1 contest inside Bell Centre.
The margin got slimmer at the 11:20 mark of the second. Canadiens forward Zachary Bolduc was gifted a turnover in the slot of the Sabres' defensive end.
Luukkonen was able to save Bolduc's point-blank shot, but lost track of the rebound. Forward Nick Suzuki found it and tapped the puck home, uncontested, to make it a 3-2 affair and force head coach Lindy Ruff to call his timeout.
Montreal continued applying pressure as the third period rolled around. Luukkonen and company refused to waiver, however, and remained up by a goal into the waning minutes of regulation.
Eventually, the blue and gold were forced to bring out the "big gun". For a second-consecutive game, Peyton Krebs nailed an empty-net goal to drop the curtain on an opponent.
Despite a 34-17 shot disadvantage, the Sabres skated off the ice in Montreal winners by 4-2 decision.
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SCORING RECAP:
First Period:
BUF: 0:44 - Jason Zucker (11) (Jack Quinn, Ryan McLeod); 14:58 - Beck Malenstyn (4) SHG (Mattias Samuelsson)
MTL: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 2:22 - Zach Benson (6) (Konsta Helenius, Noah Ostlund)
MTL: 3:56 - Cole Caufield (26) (Nick Suzuki, Mike Matheson); 11:20 - Nick Suzuki (16) (Zachary Bolduc)
Third Period:
BUF: 19:16 - Peyton Krebs (6) ENG (Tage Thompson)
MTL: NONE
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Bluestar Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
1. Ukko-Pekka Luukkon - BUF
2. Nick Suzuki - MTL
3. Bowen Byram - BUF
What's Next:
Game four of the road trip comes at you on Saturday afternoon, January 24 against the New York Islanders. Puck drop at UBS Arena is at 1 p.m. EST with Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call.