Postgame Report | Skinner's 5-point night helps Sabres snap skid

MONTREAL -Alex Tuch felt the Sabres step onto the Bell Centre ice with a sense of purpose on Tuesday. They stormed off to a three-goal lead, buckled down when necessary, and asserted their control late in a 7-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
"We came out with a mission tonight," Tuch said. "I thought we went hard to the net from the drop of the puck, we were getting pucks deep, we were playing simple."
Rasmus Dahlin buried a one-timer from the slot to put the Sabres on the board 35 seconds into the contest. JJ Peterka and Tuch followed up with goals to give the Sabres a 3-0 lead at the 2:13 mark - the second-fastest three goals to begin a game in franchise history.
The opening three minutes also featured a fight between forward Tyson Jost, playing his first shift with the Sabres, and Canadiens defenseman Chris Wideman.

Jeff Skinner added two goals and three assists to complete a five-point night. Tage Thompson had a goal and three assists, while Henri Jokiharju added his first goal of the season. Craig Anderson made 29 saves.
The victory snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Sabres, who were determined to reassert their aggressive identity after two productive days of practice.
"I think the guys all fed off each other," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "But emotional energy was high, and we played to our identity. We can play to that identity on a consistent basis."

Buffalo's penalty kill went 6-for-6 on the night, benefitting from the return of defenseman Mattias Samuelsson following a month-long absence and the addition of Jost, who was claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Here's the breakdown from a rebound performance in Montreal.

How it happened

PERIOD 1
The Sabres stormed to an early lead on the strength the goals from Dahlin, Peterka, and Tuch. They protected that lead on the back of their penalty kill.

Cole Caufield buried a one-timer to rain on the Sabres' scoring parade and put the Canadiens on the board 2:57 into the contest, but subsequent chances to cut into the deficit on the power play were squashed by the Sabres' revamped shorthanded unit.
Buffalo went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill in the period, utilizing a mix of regulars (Tuch, Dylan Cozens, and Jokiharju among others) along with the additions of Jost and Samuelsson and a solid last line of defense in Anderson.
"The kill showed up tonight," Thompson said. "Andy stood on his head, made some huge saves to keep us in it. I think the kill gave us a ton of momentum."
PERIOD 2
Skinner buried a feed from Thompson with 9:39 remaining in the period, briefly extending the Sabres' lead before Sean Monahan scored on his own rebound less than four minutes later.

The Sabres' penalty kill was successful on two more opportunities in the period, the first of which concluded when Jost intercepted a pass in the blue paint and cleared the puck.
PERIOD 3
Jokiharju finished a sequence of passes from Thompson and Tuch for his first goal of the season, padding the Sabres' lead just 3:48 into the period.

Thompson went bar-down on the rush less than three minutes later for Buffalo's sixth goal.

With 5:34 remaining, Skinner scored his second of the night when he one-timed a shot short side that caused Allen to snap his stick against the goal post.

"I think we just played a simple game and I think just eventually wore them out," Thompson said. "I think when their D have to chase the puck behind the goal line for a full 60 I think it frustrates them and I think it led to success for us."

What we learned

1. The Sabres and Canadiens combined for four goals in the opening 2:57 - the fourth time in NHL history that four goals were scored in the opening three minutes (regular season or playoffs), according to ESPN Stats and Info. The Sabres have been involved in three of those occurrences:
• Detroit and Hartford combined for five goals on February 9, 1993
• Buffalo and Hartford combined for four on January 2, 1983
• Buffalo and Pittsburgh combined for four on October 27, 1976
2.The fastest three goals to open a game in Sabres history belonged to Tyler Myers, Jochen Hecht, and Clarke MacArthur against Tampa Bay on January 6, 2010, according to Sabres PR. They scored in the opening 2:11, edging out Tuesday's trio by two seconds.

3. Samuelsson skated 19:12 in his return from a lower-body injury. He led the Sabres with 6:19 of shorthanded ice time.
"He's so hard to play against," Thompson said. "Obviously everyone knows his size and his reach and he brings that physical element back there. I think that frustrates their offense a little bit. They're not going to have any easy lanes when he's out there."
4.Granato credited Samuelsson with making an impact on the bench, too.
"He chirps a lot from the bench and he chirps a lot of the younger guys," Granato said. "... It's a lot about intensity, it's a lot about details. You get to know him as a person and he's a high character and he's a character all in one. But he was chirping the whole game at guys to compete harder and focus on details and I think guys feed off of that."
5.Thompson praised Jost for his fight, which came after Jost laid a heavy hit on Wideman deep in the zone on his very first shift of the night
"I love it," Thompson said. "It set the tone for us. He made a big impact right away. Obviously he's very detailed, very strong on puck battles. He's got a lot of skill. For him to step in there and drop the mitts, it's a big message to our team that he's here to battle and compete for us. We've got to do the same for him. He's one of us now."
6.Thompson upped his season totals to 13 goals and 26 points. The latter mark is tied with Colorado's Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon for eighth in the NHL.

Up next

The Sabres debut their black and red alternate jerseys against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday. It will be '90s Night at KeyBank Center, with the first 10,000 fans receiving "goathead" fanny packs and red light-up BamBams.

Find more information on '90s Night here. Limited tickets are still available.
Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. The puck drops on MSG and WGR 550 at 7.