Buffalo Sabres at Montreal Canadiens

· National Hockey League

Buffalo Sabres

28-17-5

Final
4 - 2

Montreal Canadiens

28-16-7

Sabres beat Canadiens 4-2 for their 17th victory in 21 games

Buffalo Sabres vs. Montreal Canadiens: Game Highlights

Peyton Krebs added an empty-netter in the third. The Sabres improved to 28-17-5, beating Montreal for the second time in eight days.

Cole Caufield scored for the fourth straight game for Montreal, and Nick Suzuki also connected, The Canadiens dropped to 28-16-7. They had won two in a row.

Samuel Montembeault stopped 13 shots in his first regulation loss since being called up from a conditioning assignment with Laval of the AHL on Dec. 27.

Buffalo is two points behind Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division.

Up next Sabres: At the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Canadiens: At Boston on Saturday night.

Regular Season Series

BUF leads series 2-1

Scoring Summary

Goal	1st Period 0:44	Jason Zucker Goal (11) Snap Shot, assists: Jack Quinn (18), Ryan McLeod (21)
Goal	1st Period 14:58	Beck Malenstyn Goal (4) Backhand, assists: Mattias Samuelsson (18)
Goal	2nd Period 2:25	Zach Benson Goal (6) Snap Shot, assists: Konsta Helenius (3), Noah Ostlund (9)
Goal	2nd Period 3:56	Cole Caufield Goal (26) Snap Shot, assists: Nick Suzuki (41), Mike Matheson (19)
Goal	2nd Period 11:20	Nick Suzuki Goal (16) Snap Shot, assists: Zachary Bolduc (9)
Goal	3rd Period 19:16	Peyton Krebs Goal (6) Snap Shot, assists: Tage Thompson (26)

Statistics

BUF		MTL
18	Blocked Shots	16
26	Hits	28
5	Takeaways	3
17	Shots	34
0	Power Play Goals	0
2	Power Play Opportunities	3
0.0	Power Play Percentage	0.0
1	Short Handed Goals	0
0	Shootout Goals	0
20	Faceoffs Won	36
35.7	Faceoff Win Percent	64.3
9	Giveaways	12
5	Total Penalties	4
10	Penalty Minutes	8