BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Cole Caufield scored twice, including the game-winner, to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 7-5 National Hockey League win against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Canadiens, and ended a three-game winning streak for the Sabres.
Caufield’s two goals put him at a league-leading 12 for the season. His second was a power-play goal with 7:02 left in the third period that put the Canadiens ahead to stay.
Buffalo's leading-scorer Tage Thompson and defenceman Mattias Samuelsson exited the game with lower-body injuries and did not return.
Rasmus Dahlin and Dylan Cozens each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo. Thompson, Peyton Krebs and JJ Peterka also scored for the Sabres.
Nick Suzuki scored twice and had an assist and Juraj Slafkovsky had three assists for Montreal. Josh Anderson, Christian Dvorak and Emil Heineman also scored.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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STARS 7 PENGUINS 1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Miro Heiskanen scored two of Dallas's six first-period goals, and the Stars scorched the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-1.
Mason Marchment had a goal and four assists for Dallas, which had dropped three of four. Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists.
The Stars scored six first-period goals for the second time in franchise history, and the first since March 1971 when they were the Minnesota North Stars. Marchment, Duchene, Tyler Seguin and rookie Logan Stankoven also scored during the team’s fast start.
Wyatt Johnston scored a power-play goal in the third for Dallas, and Jake Oettinger made 20 saves. Brendan Smith added two assists in his 700th NHL game.
Anthony Beauvillier scored his fourth goal for Pittsburgh.
Joel Blomqvist allowed three goals on eight shots and was replaced for the first time in eight NHL starts. Alex Nedeljkovic, who gave up goals on the first two shots he faced, made 26 saves.
It was the first time Pittsburgh allowed six goals in the first period of a home game.
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FLYERS 4 SHARKS 3 (SO)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Matvei Michkov had a goal and an assist, and then scored in the shootout to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
Michkov returned to the lineup after he was a healthy scratch for two consecutive games.
Travis Konecny and Erik Johnson also scored for the Flyers, who had lost three of four.
Mikael Granlund had a goal and an assist for the Sharks. William Eklund and Barclay Goodrow also scored in regulation for San Jose.
After both teams missed their first shots in the shootout, Michkov deked from his backhand to his forehand to beat Vitek Vanecek. Konecny then clinched it with a shot high over Vanecek.
Only Nashville (11 points) and Montreal (10) entered with fewer points than San Jose and Philadelphia, with each beginning play with 12 points.
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FLAMES 3 KINGS 1
CALGARY, Alta. (AP) — Captain Mikael Backlund had a goal and assist to lead the Calgary Flames to a gritty 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
Jonathan Huberdeau with his team-leading sixth goal and Kevin Rooney, into an empty net, also scored for Calgary.
Trevor Moore scored the lone goal for Los Angeles, which lost in regulation for just the second time in the last seven.
Rookie netminder Dustin Wolf made 28. He was 2:31 away from his first NHL shutout when Moore scored with the goalie pulled.
Darcy Kuemper, who faced 27 shots, was saddled with the loss.
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AVALANCHE 3 PREDATORS 2 (OT)
DENVER (AP) — Samuel Girard stole the puck and scored his first goal of the season on a breakaway 2:47 into overtime as the Colorado Avalanche rolled past the Nashville Predators 3-2.
Girard was mobbed by teammates on the ice after beating Juuse Saros with a shot into the corner of the net.
Fellow Colorado defenceman Devon Toews also got his first goal of the season, and Mikko Rantanen also scored.
Both goaltenders were stellar down the stretch and into overtime. Alexandar Georgiev and Saros each made 29 saves.
Luke Evangelista and Colton Sissons scored for the Predators, who opened a five-game trip.
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HURRICANES 5 GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jordan Martinook scored for the fourth game in a row and the Carolina Hurricanes handed the Vegas Golden Knights their first home loss with a 5-2 decision.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Eric Robinson and Jordan Staal each had a goal and an assist. Tyson Jost scored the other Hurricanes goal. Jaccob Slavin had two assists and Martin Necas extended his point streak to 10 games.
Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 31 shots for Carolina.
Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, giving him eight points in three games. Ivan Barbashev scored their other goal.
Carolina chased Vegas goalie Adin Hill at 6:13 of the second period after he gave up four goals on 21 shots.
The Associated Press
