Thomas Vanek scored on this play, but Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens won the game. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)The Montreal Canadiens haven't been catching the breaks lately, but they got plenty of them in a 3-2 home win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.
First there was Andrei Kostitsyn fanning on a scoring chance but putting Patrick Lalime out of position to get a second whack for the team's first score.
Montreal's goal to tie it 2-2, scored by Steve Begin, was abetted by a terrible Buffalo line change.
Sergei Kostitsyn took three penalties of middling to zero merit but the Sabres made Kostitsyn and the Canadiens pay only once for those sins.
The victory could be just what Montreal needs to embark on a lengthy winning streak. The Canadiens on Saturday began a span in which 10 of 11 games are at Bell Centre.
Defenceman Andrei Markov scored what turned out to be the winner late in the second, while Maxim Lapierre played a strong game, finishing with an assist.
"We're still up and down, we're still looking for our game and I think we can play better," said Markov.
Carey Price made 28 saves for the win and was beaten only by Buffalo sniper Thomas Vanek.
The Montreal goalie came up huge in the final minute with the Sabres playing with an extra attacker, making a left pad save on Daniel Paille.
Vanek's pair pushed him to 17 goals, best in the NHL. The Austrian finished with four shots on net, a number that didn't fully express what a constant threat he was to Montreal.
"We had the lead twice and let them come back, and when you let a team as good as Montreal come back in it, chances are you're going to lose," said Vanek.
Patrick Lalime stopped 31 shots for the visitors.
Lalime denied Chris Higgins at the side of the net, Montreal's best chance early on. At the other end, Patrick Kaleta barrelled down on Price but could not convert.
Montreal players were caught chasing Sabres on the first goal. Vanek had time to take the puck in front of the net and manoeuvre before slipping the disc past Price.
Not long after Vanek was stopped by Price early in the second, Andrei Kostitsyn tied it. Kostitsyn fanned on his original shot but kept track of the puck and backhanded it past Lalime at the 2:51 mark.
Vanek remained dangerous and put Buffalo back on top. He turned Josh Gorges inside out and on the same sequence drove to the net to convert Drew Stafford's pass.
Buffalo had a chance to go ahead by two but a Derek Roy shot went off the glove of Price and then the post.
Kostitsyn was fortunate to take a second minor penalty and not cost his team, and seconds after it lapsed, Montreal made it 2-2. Lapierre outskated former Canadien Craig Rivet for the puck and found Begin trailing on the play.
Begin made no mistake for his third at 13:40.
"We've been practising that every day," said Begin. "Every practice, that's all we do, Max and I, and finally it worked out, and it worked pretty good tonight."
The Habs struck again nearly five minutes later with the teams playing four a side. Captain Saku Koivu found Markov driving to the slot for the put-in. The Montreal defenceman's celebration was tempered by a slash he took on the left wrist from Buffalo rearguard Toni Lydman.
Lapierre was foiled by Lalime early in the third, while Price caught a Vanek wrist shot.
Montreal had a two-man advantage for the full term when Buffalo's Adam Mair and Jaroslav Spacek took penalties on the same play, but could not capitalize.
Lydman was the main reason why, throwing his body around to block shots for the Sabres.
Montreal improved to 13-6-4 and rebounded from a flat 3-0 loss in Washington on Friday.
"If you look at our last six or seven games, I feel that we've played really well defensively — if you take away that game [last] night," said Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau.
The Canadiens had averaged 1.9 goals a game in their previous nine games, but didn't fully break out.
The power play, ranked 23rd coming in, was 0-for-5. Alex Kovalev, meanwhile, is now without a goal in 13 games.
Matt D'Agostini saw regular duty, playing nearly 14 minutes, after being called up from Hamilton of the American Hockey League late this week.
Assistant Doug Jarvis was not with the Canadiens, leaving the team to be with his father, who is ill.
Montreal hosts Atlanta on Tuesday.
Buffalo dropped to 11-9-3.
With files from the Canadian Press
