 moved three points ahead of idle Columbus in the race for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Artturi Lehkonen, Andrew Shaw and Paul Byron also scored. Making his seventh start in a row, Montreal star Carey Price made 23 saves. Sam Reinhart, Alexander Nylander, Marco Scandella and Jack Eichel scored for the Sabres (31-34-9), who were officially eliminated from playoff contention. Carter Hutton stopped 37 shots. The Canadiens remain two points behind Carolina for the first wild card. The Hurricanes beat Minnesota 5-1 on Saturday night. Montreal plays Carolina on Sunday. The game was tied it at 3 before Byron got his 14th of the season with 1:57 left in the second period. Byron skated in for a 2-on-1 with Jordan Weal, whose shot was saved by Hutton before bouncing off Byron's skate and in. Gallagher got his 33rd goal 8:35 into the third before Eichel got one back for the Sabres at 13:13. Domi sealed it with a power-play goal with 4:30 remaining. Tatar, playing his 500th NHL game, added an empty-netter with 2:13 to go. The Sabres have one win in their past 10 games. Reinhart got the game's first goal when he beat Price 12:26 into the first period. The teams combined for six goals in a back-and-forth second. Montreal tied it at 5:09 when Lehkonen took a feed from Shaw and scored while crashing into the net. Lehkonen only had one point in his previous 22 games. Domi earned his 200th NHL point on the goal with a stylish pass to Shaw. Alone in the slot, Gallagher gave the Canadiens their first lead at 9:12 after a remarkable one-handed pass from a sprawled-out Phillip Danault behind the net. It was Gallagher's career-high 32nd goal. The Canadiens opened a 3-1 advantage when Shaw took a saucer pass from Domi and beat Hutton blocker side with a wrist shot at 14:23. The Sabres responded instantly, scoring 30 seconds later on Nylander's power-play goal. A turnover by Jonathan Drouin led to Scandella's equalizer on a fast break at 16:08 on Buffalo's 14th shot of the game. The Sabres failed to complete the season sweep after winning the first three games against the Canadiens this year. NOTES: Jason Pominville was back in the Sabres lineup after being a healthy scratch the last two games. UP NEXTSabres: At New Jersey on Monday night. Canadiens: At Carolina on Sunday night.)
Time: 7:00 PM EDT Venue: Bell Centre, Montreal, PQ, Canada, H3B 5E8 / With two weeks remaining in the NHL's regular season, the surprising Montreal Canadiens barely cling to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but a late-season run of home games may help out. Perhaps beating the Buffalo Sabres would help to get to the playoffs for the first time in two years, too. Montreal (39-28-7) hosts Buffalo on Saturday. The match will be the final one in the four-game season series, and due to a scheduling quirk, the first since the two clubs met the last time during Thanksgiving week. Beating the struggling Sabres would be a start for the Canadiens, who hang on to the final wild card by just one point over the Columbus Blue Jackets, 85-84. Montreal trails Carolina for the first wild card by two points. However, the upstart Hurricanes do have a game in hand to work with. The Philadelphia Flyers (80 points) and Florida Panthers (78) are standings lurkers, but it would be a tall order, requiring perhaps a total collapse from one or two of the three teams above them and for the Flyers or Panthers to run out, for either squad to secure a wild card. Montreal hosts four more games at Bell Center, and the Canadiens, who are 21-12-4 at home, will face the quixotic Panthers, Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning and rival Toronto Maple Leafs to round out their home schedule. Goaltender Carey Price gave the Canadiens the lift they needed to hop back in playing position on Thursday, twirling his 44th career shutout by saving 28 shots in a 4-0 win over the New York Islanders in Montreal." He's always the No. 1 guy that can turn the momentum of the game and give the boys confidence. Even when we break down a little bit he's always there, and that's huge," forward Max Domi said of Price, who is now two shutouts behind Ken Dryden for third all-time in franchise history. Montreal is 0-1-2 against the Sabres, having faced them back when Buffalo was playing some of the best hockey in the league. However, the second half of the season has been a complete disaster for the Buffalo as expectations have come up short, fueling speculation of coaching or personnel changes. The Sabres (31-33-9) have won just three times in their last 17 games (3-12-2) and dropped a 4-2 decision on Wednesday at home to Toronto. Buffalo mustered just 22 shots against Maple Leafs backup goalie Garret Sparks, getting tallies from Casey Mittelstadt and Alexander Nylander. Meanwhile, the Sabres allowed 45 shots by Toronto against their goalie Carter Hutton, including 38 over the first two periods." We knew the magnitude of this game, the rivalry," said Buffalo coach Phil Housley, whose club has not won consecutive games since early December. "We turned the puck over and then it came right back after us and we were chasing -- chasing a lot, killing a cycle. Then when we did have the puck, we didn't manage it very well." --Field Level Media
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