It was a clear Wednesday night in Buffalo with a temperature of 4 C and winds about 16 kilometres per hour.

Fans inside HSBC Arena were probably convinced there was a full moon above. How else to explain such rare occurrences as:

• A 3-2 win by the Sabres, who overcame a 2-0 third-period deficit for just their fourth shootout victory in 10 attempts this season
• A goal by the recently struggling Montreal Canadiens' power play
• A two-goal night by Canadiens forward Andrei Kostitsyn, his first goals in 14 games dating back to Dec. 26
• Buffalo's penalty-kill unit allowing only its 11th goal on home ice this season

Thomas Vanek, with one shot and minus-1 rating in regulation and overtime, scored the decisive goal in Round 3 of the shootout after teammate Jason Pominville beat Montreal goalie Carey Price.

"It was an ugly game but we'll take the two points," Vanek said. "We talked about getting pucks to the net and going hard to the net and capitalizing on some rebounds. It took 58 minutes to finally get one. I think we all know that we can be better, and we will be better."

Sabres netminder Ryan Miller was his usual stellar self against the Canadiens. He stopped Kostitsyn and Mike Cammalleri in the shootout and finished with 26 saves to raise his career record versus Montreal to 17-5-5. At .630, it's the highest winning percentage against any team over the last 30 years.

Miller sensational

Still, the Canadiens managed to overtake idle Philadelphia for sixth place in the NHL's Eastern Conference. Montreal is 36-30-8 for 80 points, one more than the Flyers and three back of fifth-place Ottawa (39-30-5).

The Canadiens, who are winless in three games after a six-game winning streak, likely would have put the game away through 40 minutes, but Miller was sensational in the second period to keep Buffalo in the game.

With his team down 2-0, Miller denied Cammalleri and Jaroslav Spacek and later robbed Tom Pyatt and Tomas Plekanec seconds apart on redirect attempts.

Before the intermission, Miller used his blocker to thwart Brian Gionta on a short-handed breakaway.

At the other end of the ice, Price turned aside all 24 shots directed at the Montreal net through two periods. He was making his first start since being benched after allowing three first-period goals against Anaheim seven games ago.

On Wednesday, Price seemed to have his 14th win of the season sewn up until Montreal defenceman Ryan O'Byrne was assessed a high-sticking penalty at 16:27 of the third period.

Extra attacker

The Northeast Division-leading Sabres, who weren't much of a threat for most of the game, went to work after head coach Lindy Ruff pulled Miller for an extra attacker with 3:15 left in regulation to give his team a 6-on-4 advantage.

Tim Connolly banged home a loose puck from the side of the crease at 18:01 for his 17th goal of the season — one off last season's career high — to make it 2-1. It was also the Sabres' sixth power-play goal in their past seven games after being blanked for seven straight.

Seventy-one seconds later, Steve Montador was credited with his fourth goal during a goalmouth scramble that forced OT.

"I'm not happy whatsoever," Price said. "Not one bit. We got to find a way to get that done. That's a point we need, and we need to find a way to do it. We played hard for 55 minutes and after that we just sat … and let them come to us."

Montreal gave the Sabres six consecutive man-advantage opportunities starting with under seven minutes to go in the second period.

"Carey gave us a strong game, and you'd like to win that game, but the penalties made it difficult for us," Montreal coach Jacques Martin said. "What you've got to learn from that is the penalties cost us."

Kostitsyn, who missed 20 games earlier in the season with a knee injury, scored his first goal since Boxing Day on the game's first shot at the 41-second mark.

Plekanec made a nifty move around defenceman Henrik Tallinder and fed a cross-crease pass to Kostitsyn, who redirected the puck past Miller.

With the Sabres assessed a too-many-men penalty early in the second period, Kostitsyn made them pay as he beat Miller through the legs. While the Canadiens boast the No. 2-ranked power play in the league, it was just their sixth man-advantage goal in 40 attempts during an 11-game stretch.

Cammalleri and Bergeron returned to the Montreal lineup from knee injuries, with Bergeron assisting on Kostitsyn's second goal. Forward Travis Moen sat after he required 50 stitches to close a wound on his forehead after he was cut by Matt Cullen's skate in Monday's 2-0 loss to Ottawa.

Montreal returns home for three games, starting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET against the unbeaten-in-two Florida Panthers.

With files from The Associated Press