Caufield, Canadiens recover in 3rd period to defeat Sabres, end 6-game skid

BUFFALO -- Cole Caufield’s second goal of the game broke a tie in the third period, and the Montreal Canadiens ended a six-game skid with a 7-5 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday.

Caufield made it 6-5 when he scored on the power play at 12:58 on a one-timer at the far post for his League-leading 12th goal of the season. Buffalo challenged for a hand pass by Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson, but the call on the ice that the puck deflected off Matheson’s glove stood.

“It feels good,” Caufield said. “It’s been a while, but we were kind of playing the right way, just weren’t getting results. At the end of the day, this is a pretty good feeling in the room right now.”

Nick Suzuki had two goals and two assists, and Juraj Slafkovsky had three assists for the Canadiens (5-9-2), who were 0-5-1 during the skid. Cayden Primeau allowed five goals on 14 shots before he was replaced in the third by Sam Montembeault, who made four saves.

“We know we have a recipe to be in every game,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “… I think the group had had enough. We weren’t perfect, but we played good hockey.”

Dylan Cozens and Rasmus Dahlin each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (7-8-1), who had won three in a row.

“We got humbled today,” said Dahlin, the Buffalo captain. “I think we were very excited about our previous games, and, I don’t know, but we know if you’re not showing up 100 percent, it’s hard to win in this league.

“I think we’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror after this game and really dig in. We can’t play like that if we want to win.”

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on 18 shots before Devon Levi (two goals on four shots) replaced him to start the third.

“[Luukkonen] had a little bit of an ailment (at practice) yesterday,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I just thought it could be affecting his play, so it was my decision to take him out and make sure nothing gets worse.”

Buffalo forward Tage Thompson and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson each left the game in the second period because of a lower-body injury. Ruff did not have an update on either after the game.

Josh Anderson scored glove side on a breakaway at 4:14 of the first period to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead.

Thompson tied it 1-1 just 28 seconds later at 4:42, cutting around Caufield in the left circle and driving to the net before slipping the puck five-hole on Primeau.

Caufield was on the doorstep for a power-play goal to put Montreal back in front 2-1 at 5:26 of the second, redirecting Lane Hutson’s shot from the blue line stick side.

Cozens tipped Dahlin’s point shot at the front of the net 19 seconds later to tie it 2-2 at 5:45.

Peyton Krebs then put the Sabres ahead 3-2 at 6:44 with a snap shot from the slot.

Suzuki, who had gone four straight games without a point, scored off the rush from the right circle to tie it 3-3 at 19:13, then scored again just 22 seconds later when he took a pass from Slafkovsky in the right circle and beat Luukkonen far side at 19:35 to give the Canadiens a 4-3 lead.

“‘Suzy’ needed a game like tonight,” St. Louis said. “I’m happy he got that game; as a player, you need those games. I think, like everybody, he feels the heat a little bit and to get that game and breathe a little bit … this team needed this outcome tonight, and I think Suzy needed that too.”

Dahlin’s slap shot from above the right circle off the face-off on a power play tied it 4-4 at 1:58 of the third, and JJ Peterka hopped off the bench and slid a backhand stick side at 3:51 to give Buffalo a 5-4 lead.

Montembeault replaced Primeau after Peterka’s goal.

Emil Heineman tied it 5-5 with a wrist shot from the slot through traffic at 10:50.

“We’ve got to work on locking it down a little bit better any time you get a lead, no matter how big it is,” Sabres forward Alex Tuch said. “But we just need to play smart. We didn’t play to our game.”

Christian Dvorak scored an empty-net goal at 19:11 for the 7-5 final.

NOTES: It was Caufield’s 18th career game-winning goal, passing Alex Galchenyuk for the fourth-most by a Canadiens player before age 24. Caufield is 23. … Suzuki’s assist on Caufield’s first goal was his 300th NHL point in his 389th game; it’s the fourth-fewest games by a Montreal player in the past 35 years to reach the mark after Stephane Richer (336), Saku Koivu (381) and Chris Chelios (385). … Thompson extended his goal streak to four games. … Dahlin had his 66th multipoint game, tying Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche for third among active defensemen before the age of 25; the only others with more are Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks (82) and Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins (73). … Sabres defenseman Owen Power had two assists but was minus-4 in 22:41 of ice time.