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BOX SCORE
MONTREAL (AP) -- Denis Hamel made the most of his much-anticipated trip to Montreal.
|  | | Patrick Poulin of the Canadiens struggles to get away after being checked into the boards by Alexei Zhitnik. |
The Buffalo Sabres rookie had a goal and an assist in front of 30 friends and family members Tuesday night in a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
"To play in Montreal was always my dream," said Hamel, a native of Lachute, Quebec. "I always watched the Canadiens growing up, so to score a goal tonight was really something special."
Dave Andreychuk and James Patrick also scored and Martin Biron
stopped 30 shots for the Sabres, who won their second straight
game.
Stephane Robidas and Trevor Linden had goals for the Canadiens,
who had their unbeaten streak snapped at four games (3-0-1).
Montreal forward Martin Rucinsky was held off the score sheet,
ending his consecutive point-scoring streak at nine games.
Biron beat the Canadiens in the last game he played, a 5-3 victory at the Molson Centre Nov. 25 and has both of his wins against Montreal.
"I think the last time I played in Montreal before these last
two wins was in the Forum, and it didn't go too well," said Biron,
who had five family members at the game. "I'm glad they moved."
Hamel scored the eventual game-winner at 7:30 of the third
period on a strange play. Vaclav Varada dumped the puck into the
Montreal zone, and Robidas gave chase. With the puck bouncing in
front of goalie Jose Theodore, Hamel reached around Robidas to bat
the puck with one hand past Theodore to make it 3-1.
"That was more luck than anything," Hamel said. "I turned
around and was wondering where the puck was, until I saw it in the
net."
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said Buffalo deserved the good
fortune.
"They got a lucky goal, but you have to give them credit
because they worked very hard," he said.
Buffalo gave the Canadiens a chance to come back when Curtis
Brown and Varada took back-to-back penalties with less than two
minutes remaining.
"You don't see that too often in this league," Biron said.
Linden, who also had an assist, scored his first goal in 13
games while the Canadiens had a two-man advantage. He banged in a
rebound from, resulting from Patrice Brisebois' point shot, with 39
seconds left in the third.
Patrick scored with seven seconds to go in the second period,
giving the Sabres a 2-1 lead. He won a battle for the puck with Eric Weinrich along the side boards and chipped the puck to Miroslav Satan on the end boards. Patrick cut to the net and received a return pass from Satan before flipping a back-hander
over Theodore's left shoulder.
"We played well in the first two periods, but that goal at the
end of the second really hurt us," Therrien said. "We didn't play
well after that."
Andreychuk opened the scoring at 11:05 of the second period,
knocking a rebound behind Theodore -- with Andrei Markov, Christian
Laflamme and Rucinsky surrounding him -- for his sixth goal this
season and 558th career.
"To be honest, I don't really think about it," Andreychuk said. "With all the guys I've passed, it's hard to fathom I'm in that group. Eighteen years ago I would never have thought this would happen. Down the road, when I retire, it'll mean a lot more."
Robidas scored about three minutes later, one-timing a slap shot
from the slot that trickled past Biron at 14:17.
Game notes
Montreal forward Juha Lind was a healthy scratch. ... Canadiens D Craig Rivet underwent an MRI Tuesday for a bruised right shoulder. The team will have the results Wednesday. ... The
attendance was 18,754, the smallest Molson Centre crowd of the
season. ... Andreychuk needs two goals to tie Guy Lafleur for 15th
on the NHL's career list.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Buffalo Clubhouse
Montreal Clubhouse
RECAPS
Pittsburgh 4
Ottawa 2
Buffalo 3
Montreal 2
New Jersey 6
Colorado 1
St. Louis 1
Anaheim 0
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