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Canadiens-Sabres Preview

Two-month chunks of the season have brought wildly different results for the Montreal Canadiens. With about that much time left, they hope for the earlier returns to make a push.

The Canadiens look to build off their first winning streak in more than two months when they open a three-game trip against the sinking Buffalo Sabres on Friday night.

Montreal (27-24-4) opened as the NHL's best team with a 19-4-3 record through Dec. 1 but posted the league's worst mark of 5-20-1 from Dec. 3-Feb. 3. That miserable stretch included no point streaks with two four-game skids and a six-game drought.

With the clock ticking on what would be a massive collapse, the Canadiens have finally found a bit of relief with three straight wins to snap a four-game skid and close a homestand 3-1.

Montreal scored 10 goals in the final three games, looking more like the team that led the league with a scoring average of 3.54 through the season's first 24 games compared to the one that fell to the bottom at 1.86 from Nov. 28-Feb. 3.

Tomas Plekanec has led the latest swing in offense, tallying three goals and five assists in the last four games after going scoreless in the previous six.

"He's going out there and playing solid defensively and creating offense as well," Alex Galchenyuk said of his linemate.

Now the key is spreading the success around. The Canadiens' top line of Plekanec, Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher have logged 13 of Montreal's 26 points over the last three games. Meanwhile, captain Max Pacioretty has one goal and one assist in his last nine games and David Desharnais has gone without a point in his last seven.

"We need to follow up on what other guys are doing if we want to have success and keep it going," Desharnais told the team's official website. "At the start of the year, everyone was chipping in and there was a different hero each game."

While Montreal is 3-11-1 away from home since Dec. 5, Buffalo is 1-7-2 at First Niagara Center since Dec. 19.

The first two games between these Atlantic Division foes were as opposite as the Canadiens' season has been. A 7-2 rout of Buffalo on Oct. 23 was part of Montreal's nine-game opening run, but a 4-2 loss Feb. 3 was the final loss in its extended slump.

Though the Sabres have won four of the last five in this series, Montreal has taken five of the last six in Buffalo and has points in 12 of the last 14 there.

The Sabres (21-28-6) came out of the All-Star break with their win over the Canadiens, but they have followed with four straight losses - the first two in extra time and the final two in regulation.

After falling 7-4 to Florida on Tuesday, Buffalo surrendered another handful of goals in Thursday's 5-1 loss at Philadelphia. The Sabres trailed 4-0 in each game.

"Mental breakdowns, turnovers, lack of coverage, it's a little bit of everything," captain Brian Gionta said.

Robin Lehner was pulled Tuesday after allowing four goals on 12 shots, and he surrendered five more on 28 two days later. It is unclear if he or Chad Johnson will start in net Friday.

Ben Scrivens will make his fourth straight start in net for Montreal. He has won three in a row with a .959 save percentage, though he holds just a .908 mark in six career starts against Buffalo.

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