Tuch tied it 1-1 at 6:04. Jacob Bryson won a battle in the corner and carried the puck behind the net before sending it to Tuch, who put a wrist shot bar down over Dobes from the right circle.
Kulich was uncovered in the right circle when he took a cross-ice pass from Rasmus Dahlin and one-timed it under the bar to put Buffalo ahead 2-1 at 7:33.
Anderson finished off some quick passing with a wrist shot from the slot off the rush to tie it 2-2 at 13:33.
“It was a big goal,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “It was like, we’re OK, and we got the goal at the end of the second that really set us up for the third period. It’s a big win for us, and we went out and got it."
With the teams at 4-on-4, Newhook tipped a Mike Matheson pass from the right circle and beat Luukkonen blocker side at 19:57 for a 3-2 Montreal lead.
“That was brutal. Can’t happen,” Dahlin said. “It was way too passive. It’s not how we play. We just tried and kill time when we were 4-on-4; it doesn’t make sense. Wasn’t good enough.”
Evans scored an empty-net goal at 18:22 for the 4-2 final.
“It’s important to focus your energy on things you can control and, right now, what we can control is the way we play each game,” Matheson said. “To know that this one wasn’t perfect but we found a way to win, we have to do that again.”
NOTES: Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson had two assists to give him 45 points and tie him with Tom Kurvers for second most in a single season by a rookie defenseman in Canadiens history. He also became the third rookie in team history with at least 10 multiassist games in a season and tied Guy Lapointe for second most multipoint games in a season by a rookie defenseman. … Kulich’s goal was his 12th even-strength goal of the season, tying Matvei Michkov (Philadelphia Flyers) and Macklin Celebrini (San Jose Sharks) for the NHL lead by a rookie. … Tuch extended his goal streak to three games and has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past eight games.
