Caufield scores twice in 3rd, Canadiens rally past Sabres

BUFFALO -- Cole Caufield scored twice in the third period and had an assist to help the Montreal Canadiens rally for a 4-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Nick Suzuki and Noah Dobson each had two assists, and Juraj Slafkovsky scored for the Canadiens (31-17-7), who have won three in a row. Jakub Dobes made 36 saves.

“Honestly, when you look at the week itself, it’s three pretty good teams,” Caufield said of beating the Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, and Buffalo. “It’s great for our group going forward here. Obviously it’s a last little push here before the (Olympic) break and obviously gives us some confidence going into these last few games.”

Owen Power and Noah Ostlund scored for the Sabres (31-18-5), whose five-game winning streak ended. Alex Lyon, who had won his past 10 starts, made 27 saves.

“That was a really good, competitive game,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “They had a few pockets of good shifts there in the third period that got us on our heels a little bit. I thought we recovered from that. I thought we had a great push in the second period, but we just didn’t quite make them pay for some of the mistakes.”

Slafkovsky gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead on the power play at 11:20 of the first period. Suzuki fed a saucer pass to Slafkovsky in the slot, where he snapped a shot over Lyon's glove.

“He made a great shot,” Lyon said. “I didn’t play it quite maybe the way that I would have liked to, but he’s scored a bunch like that this year. It seems like he’s really elevated his game this year and he’s a big, strong, physical guy. He just does a really good job, net-front and dangerous power-play guy.”

Power tied it 1-1 during a delayed penalty at 7:36 of the second period, using Zach Benson as a screen and beating Dobes with a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle.

Ostlund put the Sabres ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 18:56 when he scored from the slot on a one-timer off Alex Tuch's pass from below the goal line.

Caufield evened it 2-2 when he redirected Dobson’s seam pass in the slot past Lyon’s right skate at 4:14 of the third period.

“Cole has evolved,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “He’s not a perimeter player anymore, he’s not just a power-play guy, on the outside. If you see where we play Cole on the power play, he’s goal line, he’s around the net always, he finds himself sometimes screening the goalie. Cole has evolved. We know he’s good on the outside in space, but sometimes the game is asking you to get inside and he’s able to do that.”

Caufield then put the Canadiens ahead 3-2 at 10:13, taking a cross-slot pass from Suzuki and lifting a snap shot past Lyon's glove from in tight.

“It was honestly probably the biggest period of the year, and we knew we had to outplay them, outwork them, and get back in the game,” Caufield said. “Obviously some key plays out there, some key penalty kills, and [Dobes] was great in net in the third, so great team win.”

Oliver Kapanen scored an empty-net goal at 19:12 for the 4-2 final.

“Some lucky bounces (for Montreal),” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said. “I don’t remember exactly the goals but one guy fanned on it and it went back door. It’s just how these types of games go. We have to score on our chances.”

NOTES: Caufield scored his 12th and 13th goals in January, the most by a Montreal player in a single month since Guy Lafleur (13 in Jan. 1979). ... Suzuki has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his past eight games. ... Dobes extended his point streak to nine games (8-0-1). … Slafkovsky scored his 63rd career goal to move past Henri Richard for the second-most by a Canadiens player at age 21 or younger, trailing Stephane Richer (91). … The Sabres lost for only the second time when leading after two periods (24-2-0). … Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram played his 300th NHL game.