Brendan Gallagher and Tanner Pearson each had a goal and an assist in the third period and Jake Allen made 36 saves as the visiting Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Monday night.

With the game tied 1-1 and Buffalo the offensive aggressor most of the night, Montreal managed to take the lead just 3:31 into the third. Buffalo goaltender Eric Comrie (24 saves) made a save on David Savard’s up-close attempt, but the puck remained in the open for Gallagher to push in his second goal of the season.

The Canadiens extended their advantage when Gallagher set up Pearson, who had assisted on the tiebreaking goal, for a successful one-timer with 3:07 remaining in regulation. Montreal got outshot 37-27 on the night, but Allen was stout throughout.

Allen, who stopped 68 of 75 shots in his first two starts of the season, helped Montreal kill four of Buffalo’s five power-play chances. The Canadiens have earned seven points in their first five games of the 2023-24 campaign.

Meanwhile, the Sabres, whose lone goal came via Jeff Skinner, are 2-for-21 with the man-advantage while going 2-4 in their first six contests.

Though Buffalo pressured right out of the gate, the Canadiens recorded the game’s first goal just 2:56 into the opening period. Off a rather juicy Comrie rebound, Justin Barron drilled a shot by the screened Sabres goaltender for the first goal of the season by a Montreal defenseman.

The Sabres, though, leveled things roughly eight seconds into the night’s first power play. From the bottom of the right circle, Skinner found an opening on Allen and rang the post for his third goal of the season.

Buffalo put 17 shots on net in the second period. But Allen was up to the task, even stopping three straight rapid-fire Sabres shots while the Canadiens were short-handed around the eight-minute mark of what ended up being a scoreless middle frame.

With an assist Monday, Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin has six on the season, and at least one in five consecutive games.

–Field Level Media