Sabres hold off Canadiens’ comeback bid, continue scorching run

MONTREAL — The Buffalo Sabres foiled the Montreal Canadiens’ comeback bid, defeating the hosts 4-2 Thursday night at Bell Centre.

The Sabres took an early 3-0 lead, thanks to goals by Jason Zucker, Beck Malenstyn and Zach Benson before seeing Montreal respond with a pair of goals in the second period.

Peyton Krebs added an empty-net goal to cap off the scoring for the Sabres.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves in the winning effort.

Buffalo (28-17-5) has now won 17 of its last 21 games dating back to Dec. 9. It was also the Sabres’ second win over Montreal in eight days, having also defeated the Canadiens 5-3 on Jan. 15.

Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki lit the lamp for Montreal (28-16-7), who saw their two-game winning streak snapped.

For Caufield, it marked his fourth straight game with a goal.

Suzuki, meanwhile, ran his personal point streak to four games with a goal and an assist on the night. It was the Montreal captain’s fourth multi-point effort over his last six games.

Samuel Montembeault stopped 13 shots. It was the first regulation loss for the Becancour, Que., native since being called up from a conditioning assignment with the Canadiens’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Laval Rocket, on Dec. 27.

With the win, Buffalo now sits just two points back of Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division. Buffalo still holds one game in hand on their division rivals.

Takeaways

Sabres: Buffalo scored the game’s opening goal for the third straight game. The Sabres improved their record to 20-3-1 when scoring first this season.

Canadiens: Montreal not only failed to capitalize on any of its three power-play opportunities in the game, but was unable to generate a single shot on goal while up a man.

Key moment

It took all of 44 seconds for the Sabres to get on the board as Zucker converted a backhand feed from linemate Jack Quinn on a 2-on-1 break. The goal came on Buffalo’s first shot of the game.

Key stat

Malenstyn’s goal was Buffalo’s seventh short-handed goal of the season, which tied the Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings for the most among all teams.

Up next

Sabres: Visit the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Canadiens: Visit the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2026.