MONTREAL (AP) 鈥� Jeff Skinner had two goals and three assists as the Buffalo Sabres snapped an eight-game losing streak Tuesday night with a 7-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
鈥淚t鈥檚 taking a weight off my shoulders, I can tell you that personally,鈥� Sabres coach Don Granato said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to see the guys play that way, obviously.鈥�
Tage Thompson added a goal and three assists, while Rasmus Dahlin and Alex Tuch each had a goal and two assists.
JJ Peterka and Henri Jokiharju also scored for Buffalo (8-11-0) in its first win since Nov. 2. Craig Anderson made 29 saves.
鈥淭hey care and they work and we鈥檙e young,鈥� Granato said. 鈥淚f I had an older team, I wouldn鈥檛 be in these situations, and you go through the streaks. They know where they鈥檙e at. These guys get better because of this stuff.鈥�
Cole Caufield and Sean Monahan scored for Montreal (9-9-1). Jake Allen allowed seven goals on 38 shots.
鈥淚 think it was a bad game all around,鈥� defenseman David Savard said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to move past it. And obviously we鈥檝e got some stuff to learn, which is that bad start in the first period and it put us behind.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a couple of games now and we鈥檝e got to make sure we鈥檙e ready tomorrow to go and play our game. We鈥檝e been in every game so far if we play our style and our system, and we didn鈥檛 do that tonight.鈥�
The Canadiens went 0 for 6 on the power play, including a 4-on-3 opportunity halfway through the second period.
鈥淚 think the first two power plays had some good chances. The last four weren鈥檛 very strong,鈥� coach Martin St. Louis said. 鈥淲e want to create scoring chances and I think apart from tonight, our power play in the last 10 games was still pretty good. It鈥檚 just that tonight wasn鈥檛 our night.鈥�
Buffalo jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 2:13, the second-fastest three goals to begin a game in franchise history.
Thompson found Dahlin in the slot only 35 seconds in. Just 17 seconds later, the Sabres attacked Allen鈥檚 crease and Peterka netted Buffalo鈥檚 second of the night.
In an attempt to shift the momentum, Canadiens defenseman Chris Wideman dropped the gloves with Sabres forward Tyson Jost after Montreal鈥檚 Michael Pezetta was called for boarding.
Instead, Tuch jumped on the opportunity to make it 3-0 with a wrist shot on the power play.
鈥淚 thought we were able to really help each other out, out there,鈥� Tuch said.
Montreal cut the deficit to two when Caufield sent a slap shot past Anderson at 2:57 of the first.
Buffalo regained its three-goal cushion 11:21 into the second when Thompson found Skinner in the slot with a backhand pass and the winger scored his sixth of the season.
Montreal made it 4-2 when Monahan took the puck from center ice, skated in and scored off his own rebound at 13:57.
The Sabres bumped their advantage to three again when Tuch rounded the net and sent a backhand pass to Jokiharju, who beat Allen for his first of the season at 3:48 of the third.
Thompson added his team鈥檚 sixth goal at 6:39 with a wrist shot over Allen鈥檚 glove.
Skinner iced it with a one-timer from the right faceoff circle at 14:26.
The 30-year-old Skinner has 40 points (23 goals, 17 assists) in 37 career games against the Canadiens.
鈥淚 think sometimes it鈥檚 just sort of fortunate. It just kind of happens,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think for me to have that kind of success, it usually means the team鈥檚 playing well. I think our line played pretty well tonight so you just benefit from that.
COMING OF AGE
Dahlin is off to a strong start in his fifth NHL season. The top pick in the 2018 draft has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his last 10 games.
UP NEXT
Sabres: Host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.
Canadiens: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.
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The Associated Press
