The Buffalo Sabres hope to maintain the momentum gained from a strong finish

The Buffalo Sabres hope to maintain the momentum gained from a strong finish to a 3-2-0 Western road trip when they return home to play the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.The Sabres completed their 10-day trip with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and a gritty 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.The victory in Anaheim was considered especially significant. Buffalo took 45 shots and dominated play for long periods Brayden Schenn Jersey , but former Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller was a standout and the Ducks were able to take a 2-0 lead.Article continues below ...“We just never changed the way that we played,” Sabres right winger Kyle Okposo said. “That second goal could have been a backbreaker for us, but we just stuck with it. We played the exact same way, and we got rewarded.”“We obviously deserved to win this game, just the way we played,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said. “But it’s a credit to our leadership group for keeping the guys together and as a tight group. They talk a lot in that room, saying the right things and are leading by example. It’s a feather in their cap the way they’ve worked.”The Canadiens (5-1-2) defeated the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Tuesday night at home as Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to five games (three goals, four assists).The game against the Flames was a positive response to a 4-3 overtime loss to the Senators at Ottawa on Saturday in which the Canadiens wasted a 3-1 lead.“That’s the point we talked about last year when we had stretches when you just keep losing,” Drouin said. “Any good teams will tell you that you can’t lose two or three in a row. That’s where you get in a hole.”Goaltender Carey Price stopped 21 shots in his 289th career victory, tying Patrick Roy for No. 2 on the Canadiens’ franchise list. Jacques Plante leads with 314.Price is coming off the worst season of his career, going 16-26-7 with a 3.11 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. He is off to a better start this season.“I’m getting there,” Price said. “Obviously, I haven’t had to be extraordinary yet this year.”Habs coach Claude Julien said he is not satisfied with his team’s better than expected start.“If you ask me at any time in the season whether I’m satisfied Authentic Carl Gunnarsson Jersey , I’ll tell you I’m not because we can always be better,” Julien said. “I may tell you I’m happy, but I’m not satisfied.”The Sabres (5-4-0) were bouncing back from losses to the Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks when they defeated the Kings and Ducks.“We can learn a lot from that Los Angeles game,” Sabres center Johan Larsson said. “It’s the game you have to play every night. Simple, score on your chances, be good on special teams. That’s the NHL. And that game was a really good wake-up call that we carried over.”“You never know what the outcome is going to be, but I just like the way our guys responded in both games, especially in L.A.,” Housley said. “It was really important to get back to .500 and we set ourselves up for a good road trip.”The Sabres have five wins in October for the first time since 2011. They entered this season with the NHL’s worst October record since the 2013 lockout at 14-37-6.“We’re executing better, becoming a tighter group,” Housley said. “It’s good we’ve had a little success. We can’t rest on it, but it breeds confidence for the rest of our group.” WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — It took offense from players up and down the lineup to push the Pittsburgh Penguins past Winnipeg.Zach Aston-Reese scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:12 remaining off a perfect pass from Phil Kessel Colton Parayko Jersey , and the Penguins rallied past the Jets 4-3 on Tuesday night.Derek Grant pulled the Penguins even 5:08 into the third period. Sidney Crosby and Riley Sheahan also scored for Pittsburgh (10-8-5).It was the first goal of the season for Grant, and the second for both Sheahan and Aston-Reese.“It’s huge when you get contributions like that from throughout your lineup, especially in the bottom six,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I just think that makes us that much more difficult to play against and on a night like tonight, it’s the difference in the hockey game.”Crosby also gave the third and fourth lines a lot of credit for their performance.“Yeah, they’re doing a lot of good things and a lot of those guys are a big part of killing penalties and getting big kills for us, so to see them chip in offensively is great,” he said. “They deserve it with how hard they work.”Mark Scheifele scored twice for the Jets (13-8-2), and Brandon Tanev had their other goal.“We’ve just got to play the way we know how to,” Scheifele said. “We get away from it, we start doing things that aren’t part of our strategy. We turn pucks over, we don’t get pucks deep. We’ve just got to simplify in those areas. We’re a simple team. We get it deep, we work teams in the offensive zone and make them go an extra 30-50 feet every time.”Head coach Paul Maurice agreed that his Jets lost their way in the final period.“We gave up five shots in the third http://www.officialblues.com/authentic-adidas-dmitrij-jaskin-jersey ,” he said. “It wasn’t a tilt to the ice by any means. I think we’re going to like our chances better than theirs in the third. Gave up a tough one, got a bad break on one and it’s in the back of the net. That’s it. It’s a tight game.”Tanev got Winnipeg started at 7:01 of the first period with his fourth goal this season on a short-handed breakaway against Casey DeSmith, who made 24 saves.Crosby tied it at 18:13 with a slick backhand in close that fooled goalie Connor Hellebuyck. It was Crosby’s 10th of the season.Scheifele put the Jets back in front 39 seconds into the second on a feed from captain Blake Wheeler. But that only lasted until Sheahan got credit for poking a loose puck over the line after Hellebuyck failed to corral it at 4:40.Wheeler also set up Scheifele’s second goal of the night and 13th this season, which rocketed past DeSmith before he had much time to react at 16:00.Grant tied it once more for the Penguins when he beat Hellebuyck between his legs. Kessel then set up Aston-Reese for his second of the season with a nice feed to the front of the net.“We were up for this one,” Grant said. “We didn’t give up in here. We stuck to the game plan and tried to play the right way the whole game. We got some big saves from Casey … some big blocks from guys and we really wanted this one.”NOTES: DeSmith has been thrust into the starter’s job for the Penguins with Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Matt Murray sidelined by a lower-body injury after time off due to a concussion earlier this season. … Hellebuyck finished with 26 saves. … Crosby is closing in on Mario Lemieux’s franchise record of 915 games. He has to play 33 more games to pass the Hall of Famer. “With some of the injuries I’ve had, you appreciate it more and more,” Crosby said. “Players always say as they get older they appreciate it more and more because you only have a window to play, it’s only a small window. He did so much for the team and the city, just being able to play at this age, I still have that competitive in me and I don’t feel any older. It’s good to be in that company, I guess.”UP NEXTPenguins: At the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.Jets: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.