The Montreal Canadiens played significantly better than they did seven days ago, but the result remained the same.
Thomas Vanek scored a power-play goal with less than nine minutes remaining in the third period to give the Buffalo Sabres a 4-2 home win over the Canadiens Friday night.
Sabres defenceman Jaroslav Spacek, left, checks Montreal captain Saku Koivu during the first period Friday night in Buffalo, N.Y.
(Don Heupel/Associated Press)
Vanek was able to control a rebound in front of the Montreal net and beat goaltender Carey Price to the blocker side at 11:27.
"It's nice to finally get rewarded," said Vanek, who had four assists in his two previous games combined. "It was good timing."
Buffalo was given the power play when Canadiens defenceman Mike Komisarek tripped Derek Roy just outside the Montreal blue-line.
"I didn't see anything wrong with the play," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "He wasn't trying to trip him, he was trying to push the puck out of our zone. What happened after doesn't really matter. That's a hockey play."
Daniel Paille added an empty-net goal with 14 seconds left to put the game away for the Sabres.
"We can't take it for granted," Sabres forward Tim Connolly said. "We've played solid the last few games, but we still have a ways to go."
Last Friday, Montreal (12-7-3) looked out of sorts at HSBC Arena, falling behind 3-0 after the first period en route to a 4-1 defeat.
The Sabres (8-11-1) and Canadiens will play the back end of their home-and-home series on Saturday night (7 p.m. ET) at the Bell Centre.
Roy and Connolly also scored for Buffalo, while Chris Higgins and Tomas Plekanec replied for Montreal.
The story of this game was Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller, who stoned Montreal shooters most of the night en route to a 30-save performance.
"I've been trying to focus more on my game," Miller said. "Early in the season I was probably too worried about what everybody else was trying to do and trying to be bigger than my role."
Montreal rookie Carey Price also had a solid contest between the pipes, stopping 29 Buffalo shots.
"We could have played better," Price said. "They got to loose pucks better than we did."
Montreal converted just one of six power-play chances after coming into the game with the top power-play unit in the league.
"Our penalty killing has been strong," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "We knew that was going to be important."
Sabres strike first
The Sabres jumped on Montreal with the opening goal of the game on the power play at 8:56 of the first period.
Roy re-directed a shot off the stick of Maxim Afinogenov that Price had no chance on.
The Canadiens had an opportunity to tie the game minutes later during a four-minute power play, but failed to convert.
Montreal also received a scare earlier in the first period after defenceman Andrei Markov was checked hard into the boards by Buffalo winger Ales Kotalik. Markov was on the ice for several minutes before returning to action.
The Sabres continued their strong play into the second, taking a 2-0 lead at 7:39 when Tim Connolly tapped in a rebound behind Price.
Montreal, which boasts one of the top road records at 7-4-1, responded with a power-play goal more than two minutes later. With Miller screened, Higgins fired a wrist shot over the right shoulder of the Buffalo goaltender.
Despite the goal, Miller was responsible for keeping Buffalo ahead by one in the second, making 12 saves in the period, including a point-blank chance by Higgins in the dying seconds.
However, the Canadiens managed to pull even at 4:56 of the third off a Buffalo turnover.
Plekanec took a lead pass from winger Andrei Kastsitsyn, raced in on a breakaway and beat Miller with a nifty forehand deke.
With files from the Associated PressRelated
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