Sabres Hunt Down Habs

After spending the last few weeks talking about the importance of winning big games, the Buffalo Sabres finally went out and won one.

Jay McKee sparked a three-goal second period outburst as the Sabres jumped back into playoff contention Monday night with a 4-1 win over the injury-riddled Montreal Canadiens.

With the win, their first against the Canadiens in four meetings going back to last season, the Sabres moved into a tie with Montreal for the Eastern Conference's final spot, one point ahead of the idle New York Rangers.

"That was big, obviously, the biggest game of the year," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.

"You know, we lost a couple of big ones," Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek said. "We lost to Montreal a couple of weeks ago, we lost to New York at home, these were big games in our building that we lost. And at least we won today."

Vaclav Varada sealed the win with an empty-net goal and also added an assist, while Maxim Afinogenov and Dixon Ward also scored for the Sabres who were playing their first game after going 1-2-0-1 on their western road swing.

"There's still many big games coming. And this was one that we had to wn," said Hasek, who made 23 saves.

Doug Gilmour assisted on Varada's goal, giving him two goals and eight points in five games since joining the Sabres.

Martin Rucinsky spoiled Hasek's shutout bid 7:49 into the third as the Canadiens had a four-game winning streak against the Sabres snapped. The teams meet once more this season, April 1 at Montreal.

The Canadiens, missing five regulars including Saku Koivu (knee) and Trevor Linden (ribs), have only one win in five games (1-3-1). And Montreal's troubles might have grown worse.

Rucinsky, the Canadiens' leading scorer with 23 goals and 46 points crashed heavily into the boards late in the game, jamming his left shoulder. Rucinsky said that he felt fine but worried that his shoulder might stiffen overnight.

Montreal has already lost an NHL-high 495 man games to injury this season.

"(Injuries) have nothing to do with it," said Canadiens goalie Jeff Hackett, who faced 33 shots. "We had 20 men on the ice and we've got a job to do."

Hackett admitted that the Sabres put in a better effort, especially in the first two periods when Montreal was outshot 28-13.

"They were a very hungry team and a very good team," Hackett said. "They were relentless and we didn't have our best effort. We have no margin of error."

The Sabres finally got to Hackett on McKee's goal 1:44 into the second period.

Varada set up the play when he rode Jesse Belanger off the puck and fed McKee at the left point. McKee then fired a 40-footer just inside the far post.

Afinogenov scored on a breakaway nine minutes later, and Ward capped the surge when his knuckleball shot fooled Hackett with 5:03 left in the period.

Rucinsky, set up in front by Belanger, waited for Hasek to go down before flipping a shot in.

The hobbled Canadiens did get some promising news earlier in the day.

An MRI exam on Benoit Brunet's back showed that the forward did not sustain disc damage as originally feared. Also, forward Shayne Corson has been cleared to practice after he was hit just below the eye by a puck in last Thursday.

The Sabres are also hoping to get a pair of players back this week, including captain Mike Peca, whose missed seven games with a dislocated left shoulder. Peca has been skating with the team for the past week and said he might return for Thursday's game against Calgary.

Defenseman Alexei Zhitnik, out for the six games, is day-to-day with a fractured finger.

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