MONTREAL, QC — Jeff Skinner scored four goals in a game for the first time in his career, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3 on Saturday to snap a three-game winless streak.
Tage Thompson also scored for Buffalo, his fourth goal of the season against the Habs.
Mike Hoffman, Jeff Petry and Joel Armia scored for NHL-worst Montreal, which lost its third straight since firing coach Dominique Ducharme and naming Martin St. Louis interim coach. The Canadiens’ overall winless streak extended to 10 games, their worst skid since 1926.
Skinner’s third goal put the Sabres ahead for good, 4-3, with 11 minutes, 44 seconds remaining, and his fourth with 1:46 left ended the Canadiens’ chances.
Craig Anderson made 28 saves to collect his 297th NHL win, passing Ron Hextall for 40th on the league’s all-time list.
Montreal’s Samuel Montembeault stopped 26 of 31 shots in his second start in two days.
Skinner got the Sabres on the board early, redirecting a shot by Casey Fitzgerald for his first goal 3:41 into the game.
Montreal tied it early in the second period when Corey Schueneman sent the puck to Hoffman for a one-timer from the right faceoff circle.
Skinner got his second midway through the period when his shot from the top of the the faceoff circle beat Montembeault just under the crossbar.
The Canadiens tied it 2-2 58 seconds later on Petry’s shot from the point, which deflected off John Hayden.
Montreal took the lead 16:09 into the second when Armia, well-positioned in front of the goal, received Ryan Poehling’s pass and beat Anderson with a short-side shot.
The Sabres tied it again on a power play late in the second. Peyton Krebs sent a cross-ice pass to Thompson, whose shot was too much for Montembeault.
Skinner completed the hat trick after he was tripped by Petry on a breakaway. The puck ended up in the back of the net after deflecting off his skate.
His fourth goal came when Alex Tuch found him in the slot, Tuch’s third assist of the game.
NOTES: Montreal placed Ben Chiarot on injured reserve before the game and recalled Schueneman from the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Sunday marked the 26-year-old defenseman’s third game in three days, following back-to-back outings in the AHL.
