Clarke MacArthur's power play goal in the third period was the winner as the streaking Buffalo Sabres survived a furious comeback attempt by the Montreal Canadiens to finally prevail 4-3 on Monday night.
Andrej Sekera, Patrick Kaleta and Tim Kennedy also scored for the Northeast Division-leading Sabres (20-9-2), who won their fourth straight and their eighth in 10 games.
Andrei Kostitsyn had two goals and an assist and Mike Cammalleri also scored for the Canadiens (15-16-3), who are winless in three games following a three-game winning streak.
Kostitsyn, who had two goals in his first 26 games this season, now had six goals and two assists in his last five contests.
Ryan Miller allowed three goals for only the second time in his last 11 starts, but still made 21 stops to improve his record to 19-6-2. His biggest save came with only 19 seconds to play in regulation with Buffalo down a man, as he slid across to rob Cammalleri on a one-timer attempt to save the victory.
Jaroslav Halak made 23 stops in the Montreal net, losing for the second straight time to Buffalo. He allowed 10 goals in those two losses.
The Montreal power play went 2-for-4 on the night and is now 7-for-16 over the last five games. But it couldn't take advantage of a Toni Lydman penalty at 18:00 of the third to tie it up.
With the Sabres up 2-1 after two periods, Montreal tied it at 2:36 of the third with Kostitsyn's second of the game and eighth of the year, 10 seconds after the Sabres were called for too many men on the ice.
Cammalleri got the puck on the side boards and sent it to Plekanec in the slot, who wheeled and sent it to Kostitsyn in front for a tip-in goal through Miller's legs.
The Sabres grabbed the lead again 3-2 at 12:33 when Kennedy had the puck bnounce out to him after a scramble in front of Halak and buried his fourth of the season.
But the Canadiens didn't wait long to tie it back up, with Cammalleri taking a Kostitsyn fee to enter the Sabres zone and picking the top corner from the right faceoff dot at 12:51 for his 18th of the season.
The Canadiens then took two straight penalties, as Glen Metropolit took a double minor and Ryan O'Byrne was called for high-sticking shortly thereafter. The Sabres capitalized when Drew Stafford found MacArthur alone at the far post for his 10th of the season at 14:41 of the third to make it 4-3 Buffalo.
Montreal went ahead 1-0 with a power play goal at 16:03 of the first, and the player most responsible for the goal didn't wind up on the scoresheet.
Marc-Andre Bergeron got the puck at the right point and sent it cross ice to Tomas Plekanec on the far side boards. Plekanec immediately sent a puck towards the slot, where Cammalleri faked receiving it before allowing it to go through to Kostitsyn, who wired a one-timer past Miller.
Buffalo tied it at 12:58 of the second just as a penalty to Josh Gorges had expired. With Jochen Hecht and former Sabre Jaroslav Spacek battling in front of Halak, Sekera's point shot beat him cleanly to the glove side for the defenceman's second of the season.
With Sabres defenceman Steve Montador in the box late in the second, a poor attempt to keep the puck in at the blue line hurt the Canadiens as Tim Connolly grabbed the puck and headed up ice. Patrick Kaleta outskated Cammalleri to make it a 2-on-1, taking a perfect feed from Connolly and beating Halak with a deke to the backhand for his sixth of the season at 19:01 to make it 2-1 Buffalo.
Notes: Habs D Paul Mara missed his fourth game with a shoulder injury, while D Andrei Markov (ankle) and winger Brian Gionta (foot) were also outaSabres winger Paul Gaustad missed his ninth game with a leg injury and D Chris Butler missed his sixth with an ankle injuryaThe Canadiens 1-0 lead at the first intermission was only the 11th time they led after one period in 34 gamesa