Sabres recap: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen makes 32 saves in 4-2 win at Montreal
Zach Benson's goal in the second period helped the Sabres to their fourth win in the last six games in a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre in Montreal.
Zach Benson's goal early in the second period was one of only three shots the Buffalo Sabres put on goal in the period Thursday night.
It became the most providential shot in a 4-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre.
The Buffalo Sabres' Jason Zucker (17) scores against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault (35)
during first-period in Montreal, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Benson helped the Sabres to their fourth win in the last six games, despite finishing with only 17 shots on goal against the Canadiens in an Atlantic Division matchup and their second meeting with Montreal since Jan. 15. The Sabres and Canadiens complete the season series at 7 p.m. Jan. 31 at KeyBank Center.
Benson remained in the game after he was elbowed in the face and fell to the ice with 2:14 left, but Peyton Krebs scored the empty-net goal to ensure the win for the Sabres (28-17-5), who are now 9-3-2 against Atlantic Division teams this season.
How it happened
First period: Jason Zucker needed 44 seconds to open the scoring. He beat Canadiens goalie Samuel Montembeault (14 saves) on a one-timer from the slot – off a pass from Jack Quinn – that gave the Sabres an early 1-0 lead.Beck Malenstyn scored his fourth goal of the season, a shorthanded tally with three seconds left in a high sticking penalty to Michael Kesselring, which gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead at 14:58.
Second period: Benson gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead at 2:22 of the second after taking multiple swings at a rebound – on Montembeault’s glove side – of a shot by Konsta Helenius. Montreal wing Josh Anderson hit the post less than a minute after Benson’s goal, but Canadiens left wing Cole Caufield cut the lead to 3-1 on a shot from the top of the slot off a feed from Nick Suzuki.
Suzuki then cut the lead to 3-2 at 11:20, when he picked up Zachary Bolduc’s rebound and caught Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (32 saves) out of position. The scoring sequence began after the Sabres attempted to clear the puck and Bolduc caught the puck in mid-air, dropped it to the ice and put the initial shot on goal.
Third period: Montembeault stopped Alex Tuch on a shorthanded breakaway attempt with 12:44 left in the third, but the Canadiens continued to put pressure on Luukkonen, before Krebs tallied the empty netter with 43.3 seconds left.