The Canadiens win to maintain 2nd wild card in the Eastern Conference.
By Sean Farrell / NHL.com Correspondent
MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens kept pace in the wild card race in the Eastern Conference with a 7-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Bell Centre on Saturday.
The Canadiens are three points ahead of the idle Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East. Montreal is two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes, who won 5-1 against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday and hold the first wild card.
Brendan Gallagher had two goals and an assist, Max Domi and Tomas Tatar each had one goal and two assists, and Carey Price made 23 saves for Montreal (40-28-7), which won its third straight after going 1-4-0 in previous five games.
Sam Reinhart, Alexander Nylander, Marco Scandella and Jack Eichel scored for Buffalo (31-34-9), which already was eliminated from playoff contention. Carter Hutton made 37 saves for the Sabres, who have one win in their past 10 games (1-8-1).
Paul Byron put Montreal ahead 4-3 with the sixth goal of the second period at 18:03.
Gallagher scored his second goal of the game, his 33rd, to make it 5-3 at 8:35 of the third.
Eichel made it 5-4 with his 26th goal at 13:13, seven seconds after the Canadiens killed a pair of minor penalties to Andrew Shaw.
Domi extended the lead to 6-4 with a power-play goal at 15:30. Tatar scored into an empty net with 2:13 remaining in his 500th NHL game to make it 7-4.
Reinhart gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 12:26 of the first.
Domi got his 200th NHL point with the first of his two assists on Artturi Lehkonen’s goal at 5:09 of the second that tied it at 1-1.
Gallagher scored his NHL career-high 32nd goal of the season at 9:12 to make it 2-1, and Shaw made it 3-1 at 14:23.
Nylander scored on a power play 30 seconds later to make it 3-2 at 14:53. Scandella tied it at 3-3 at 16:08.
Up next
The Sabres continue their road trip Monday night in New Jersey against the Devils.