BUFFALO — Josh Anderson scored the go-ahead goal at 16:14 of the third period to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabers at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
Anderson scored on a one-timer from above the left circle moments later Eric Comrie made a pad save on his chance from in front.
“Coming across the middle there, I was just looking at an empty net, and obviously their goalie made a nice save,” Anderson said. “You kind of just have to stay with it and finish the shift out, and lucky [David Savard] had the puck there and saw me open, and I was fortunate enough to get it off and squeak one in there at the end.”
Video: MTL@BUF: Anderson’s snipe gives Canadiens lead
Kaiden Guhle scored his first NHL goal, Savard had two assists, and Sam Montembeault made 43 saves for the Canadiens (4-4-0), who won their first road game of the season.
“For sure I’m happy with the result,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “It’s rare you play a perfect game. Tonight we had some highs and some lows, but we found a way.”
Jeff Skinner and Dylan Cozens scored for the Sabers (4-3-0), who have lost two straight. Comrie made 31 saves.
“We got lots of shots, but we might need more bodies around the net to get those rebounds and get those greasy goals,” Cozens said. “Not every goal is going to be pretty. So I think that was something we can work on, for sure.”
Brendan Gallagher gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 13:31 of the first period when his shot from the right circle hit Comrie’s right pad and redirected in off the skate of the Sabers defenseman Owen Power.
Skinner tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal 31 seconds into the second period. After corralling a bouncing puck in the right circle, he faked a backhand and lifted a shot under the crossbar from in tight.
Video: MTL@BUF: Skinner makes slick move for power-play goal
It was Skinner’s first goal this season.
“It’s always nice, obviously, if you haven’t got one in a while to get one to maybe relax a little bit,” he said. “But yeah, after that you kind of look forward to the next one, and I thought we had some chances, just couldn’t get that one we needed.”
The Sabers controlled play for most of the second, ending the period with a 13-9 advantage in shots.
“I think the second period was our big, big opportunity,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “I think there we complicated some things. We could have been a little bit more intense going to the net, maybe scored a goal. I think we tried to pass the puck into the net. Feeling good about puck movement of possession time and didn’t ‘t have the killer instinct that we needed at that point, and it caught up with us.”
Guhle put Montreal back in front 2-1 at 6:51 of the third period, scoring on a one-timer from below the right face-off circle.
“The win’s obviously the most important part,” Guhle said. “I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help the team win. So it was nice to see that one go in, but it was obviously a big win for us tonight and a good way to start the (four-game) road trip.”
Video: MTL@BUF: Guhle gives Habs lead with first NHL goal
Cozens tied it 2-2 at 12:54 when he curled out in the left circle and shot glove side on Montembeault.
“We came into the second intermission tied 1-1 on the road,” Montembeault said. “We worked hard after that. Guhle continued to play some really good hockey, got his first career goal. They came back, but after that, we continued to work hard. Big goal from Anderson. Once we scored the last goal, we did a really good job of managing the puck. They couldn’t pull their goalie (until late).”
NOTES: Sabers defenseman Rasmus Dahlin had his point streak end at six games (five goals, four assists). … Guhle was selected by Montreal with the No. 16 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
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