Canadiens 3, Sabres 2
MONTREAL -- Center Tomas Plekanec and left wing Brandon Prust each had a goal and an assist to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at Bell Centre.
Center Alex Galchenyuk also scored and left wing Travis Moen had a pair assists for Montreal (19-9-3), which has won five straight and nine of its last 10.
Centers Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons scored for the Sabres (6-22-2), who have just two wins in 10 games under interim coach Ted Nolan.
Goaltender Carey Price stopped 23 shots for the Canadiens while Sabres counterpart Jhonas Enroth made 16 saves.
After an uneventful first period that saw the two teams combine for just nine shots on goal, Prust awoke the Bell Centre crowd just 19 seconds into the middle frame with his third goal of the season.
Sabres right wing Matt D'Agostini turned the puck over in his end and the Canadiens took advantage as center Ryan White fed Prust in the slot.
The Sabres started to press a few minutes later and were finally able to convert at 8:35. A failure to clear the zone cost Montreal when defenseman Christian Ehrhoff found Ennis streaking in off the bench for his sixth of the season.
Plekanec put the home side ahead at 17:44 when Prust, behind the net, fed him in the slot. The Czech's 11th goal of the year tied him with left wing Max Pacioretty for the team lead.
Galchenyuk added to Montreal's lead 23 seconds later. Defenseman Andrei Markov, at the top of the left circle, dished off a perfect pass to the second-year forward at the hash marks. He made no mistake in potting his eighth.
Girgensons brought the Sabres to within a goal at 4:04 of the third period. Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban struggled to settle the puck off an Ennis lob clear to the Montreal blue line and Girgensons took advantage, holding off Subban to put the puck past Price.
NOTES: The Canadiens and Sabres combined for just nine shots in the opening period, a season-low total between two teams for Montreal. ... Buffalo scratched LW John Scott, D Brayden McNabb and C Mikhail Grigorenko. ... Grigorenko will temporarily leave the Sabres on Sunday to join Team Russia for the upcoming World Junior Championship. ... Montreal scratched RW George Parros and D Francis Bouillon, while RW/LW Rene Bourque remained out with an upper-body injury. ... Heading into Saturday, Buffalo was 11-3-1 in its last 15 games against Montreal and 7-3-0 in the last 10 played at Bell Centre. ... It was the 260th meeting between the Canadiens and Sabres.
