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Tuesday, Oct. 17 7:30pm ET
Montreal wins third straight at home | |||||
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MONTREAL (AP) -- Alexei Zhitnik used his stick to give the other team the win. With Zhitnik off for high-sticking, Martin Rucinsky tipped in Patrice Brisebois' shot from the point with 56 seconds remaining for a game-winning power-play goal as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 Tuesday night. Rucinsky redirected Brisebois' shot for his first goal of the season as the Canadiens won their third straight home game and evened their record at 3-3. "When Zhitnik took the penalty, I thought right away that this was my chance," Brisebois said. "I just wristed the puck and Rosie was in front of the net and tipped it. It was a huge goal and a big win for us." Zhitnik clipping Canadiens rookie defenseman Andrei Markov in the head with his stick inside the Montreal blue line. "That was an undisciplined penalty late in the game that cost us the game," Ruff said. "We can't take stupid penalties like that on the road." Dainius Zubrus, who collected his first career hat trick against Chicago on Saturday night, also scored twice for Montreal. Zubrus has five goals in his last two games. "It seems everything I touch turns into a goal," Zubrus said. "I'm always at the right place at the right time." Buffalo's Stu Barnes scored twice, including his third of the season at 6:24 of the third, to tie the game at 3. The goal was the Sabres' first short-handed goal of the season. Barnes swept across the Montreal goalmouth to reach around Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore and scored. Trevor Linden gave Montreal a 2-0 lead 9:39 into the first period. Barnes scored 79 seconds later to cut the Sabres' deficit to 2-1. Zubrus, who opened the scoring with a power play goal 3:13 into the first, scored at 12:28 of the second to restore Montreal's two-goal lead at 3-1. Zhitnik scored his first of the season on a power play at 14:40 of the second as the Sabres closed to 3-2. Theodore stopped 26 shots in his first start of the season. Dominik Hasek, who has three losses in four games, also stopped 26 shots. The Sabres (2-3) return home to play Anaheim on Friday night after going pointless on their three-game Canadian road trip. Buffalo lost 3-2 in Edmonton on Friday, and 4-0 the following night in Vancouver. "We have no one to blame but ourselves," Ruff said. "Some of our guys should be down about the way we're playing, but for 90 percent of that game, I liked the way we played." Game notesBuffalo left wing Eric Boulton and Montreal forward P.J. Stock got fighting majors 7:51 into the second. ... Canadiens captain Saku Koivu and defenseman Sheldon Souray were operated on Tuesday. Koivu had a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee repaired. Souray had surgery on a torn abdominal muscle. He may skate within four weeks, but won't return to action for 8-10 weeks. ... Jeff Hackett started Montreal's first five games in goal. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Buffalo Clubhouse Montreal Clubhouse RECAPS Ottawa 6 Philadelphia 1
Montreal 4 AUDIO/VIDEO   Stu Barnes knocks it past Jose Theodore for a short-handed goal.avi: 794 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||