In Buffalo, Brendan Gallagher scored for the Canadiens ahead of the midway point of the third period on Monday to get Montreal even with the Sabres at 3-3.
That was good enough to get the game to extra time, which solved nothing.
“We were down a goal going into the third,” Gallagher said. “I thought we had a pretty good push. We had some chances from a lot of lines. Puck ended up on my stick in a good spot to shoot it, and it went in. It’s one of those things, I think we earned that chance. We weren’t fantastic, but we did enough on the road tonight to get a win.”
Michael Pezzetta was credited with the deciding goal on penalties, in the sixth round, to give the Habs a 4-3 win.
Jake Allen made 30 saves in the Montreal win.
The Canadiens moved to 30-38-6 off their third win in four games.
“We had a good start, but after that, we were a bit flat,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “We were too cute in the neutral zone; we took two penalties. It’s tough to get into the game. In the second and third, we played more of our game. … I liked the way we corrected ourselves, it’s a sign of maturity, and the way we stayed on task.
“We were patient and we got some good saves from Jake. … I’m happy with the sign of maturity from the team to be able to correct within the game and get the two points.”
Montreal took a 1-0 lead in the first on goal from Jordan Harris , the Sabres replied with a quick goal from Lukas Rousek for a 1-1 tie.
“He’s (Rousek) got a feel for the game,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “Obviously, he knows us, he knows our systems, he knows what he’s doing. He’s a hockey player. Very good game.”
Buffalo dropped to 35-31-7, but the loser’s point pushed the Sabres to within five points of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Montreal regained the lad in the middle frame on a marker from Alex Belzile for a 2-1 score.
“I faked a shot to begin with so, often, the goalie drops,” Belzile said. “It’s been years that I’ve been working with goalie coaches and the goalie coach in Laval (of the AHL) has told me that the fake shot is everything. When you listen, you learn.”
In response, the Sabres hit for two goals in the second period.
JJ Peterka tied it 2-2 off the power play at 5:49, and Riley Stillman scored at 8:31 to give Buffalo a 3-2 advantage coming out of the second period.
“I saw he was down, and I’ve tried it in the past a couple times,” Peterka said. “I’m happy it went in today.”
Eric Comrie made 38 saves in the Sabres loss.
“We battle hard every single night,” Comrie said. “I respect the [heck] out of these guys. They work hard every single night. They truly give it their all. I love playing for these guys. It’s unfortunate. That’s a tough one to swallow tonight. That’s a really tough pill to swallow.”
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