Tuch scores short-handed, Sabres rally past Canadiens 

MONTREAL – Alex Tuch scored the go-ahead goal short-handed late in the second period, and the Buffalo Sabres came from behind for a 3-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Wednesday.

Tuch broke a 2-2 tie on a breakaway at 18:08 after Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson failed to control the puck at the blue line.

“I saw an opportunity that was going to make Matheson a little uncomfortable there, and I saw it get past him and just went,” Tuch said.

Zemgus Girgensons and Jeff Skinner also scored for the Sabres (25-27-4), who have won two of three. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 29 saves.

“‘Upi’ was on his game, I mean, he had to make several nice saves,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “Obviously they made some nice plays, so you have to have a good goaltending performance if you’re going to do that.”

Joshua Roy had two assists, and Sam Montembeault made 20 saves for Montreal (22-26-8), which has lost three straight and five of six.

“They’re a good team, they’ve got a lot of good players,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “I think their spot in the standings doesn’t really say what kind of team they are. Yeah, we want to win those games, on home ice especially, and I thought we did a lot of good things tonight, we just weren’t able to score more goals than them.”

Arber Xhekaj gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 12:41 of the first period with a one-timer from the top of the left circle.

Girgensons tied it at 1-1 at 4:20 of the second when he redirected Henri Jokiharju’s shot from the left point.

“It was just a simple game there,” Girgensons said. “We just got it to the point shot a couple of times, you know, got some tips, and eventually it went in.”

Jayden Struble gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead at 6:35. His wrist shot from the left point went in off Sabres forward Peyton Krebs in front.

Skinner tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 9:28, putting in a rebound in the slot off Dylan Cozens’ shot from the right circle.

“Their goalie made a few really big saves down the stretch and early on,” Suzuki said. “So, you’ve got to give him a little bit of credit, but there were some chances where we missed the net. We’ve just got to execute a little better.”

NOTES: Tuch scored his 15th game-winning goal for Buffalo since 2021-22, most by a Sabres player over that span. … Skinner has 47 points (26 goals, 21 assists) in 24 games against Montreal with Buffalo and the Carolina Hurricanes. … Suzuki's NHL career-high 10-game point streak ended. He had 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) during the streak. … Roy, 20, is the Canadiens' first Quebec-born player aged 20 or younger to have a multipoint game since Louis Leblanc had a goal and an assist in a 6-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 27, 2011.