Joe Yerdon – NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO — Marcus Foligno had two goals and an assist, and the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Montreal Canadiens 6-4 at First Niagara Center on Friday.
Foligno had the first three-point game of his NHL career. He assisted on the first of Evander Kane’s two goals with 17.8 seconds left in the first period and scored two goals, including one on a penalty shot, in the second.
Foligno tipped a pass from Philip Varone behind goaltender Mike Condon 2:18 into the period for his fifth goal of the season to give Buffalo a 4-1 lead. With 2:19 left, Foligno was hooked from behind on a breakaway by Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk and was awarded a penalty shot. Foligno put a wrist shot over Condon’s glove and under the crossbar for his sixth goal of the season.
That goal gave Buffalo a 5-3 lead and proved to be the game-winner when Montreal forward Alex Galchenyuk scored a power-play goal with 22 seconds left in the period. Kane hit the empty net with 50.4 seconds left in the third period.
The Sabres (22-28-6) ended a four-game losing streak. The Canadiens (27-25-4) had won their previous three games.
Condon replaced starting goalie Ben Scrivens 1:28 into the second period after Scrivens allowed three goals on eight shots. Condon made 11 saves.
After Sven Andrighetto scored the first of his two goals 3:44 into the first period, the Sabres scored four in a row. David Legwand and Kane had goals in the first period, and defenseman Josh Gorges and Foligno scored 50 seconds apart early in the second.
The Canadiens cut the deficit to 4-3 on Galchenyuk’s first of two power-play goals at 4:47 of the second and Andrighetto’s second goal of the game 2:01 later.
Canadiens forward Paul Byron returned to the lineup after missing eight games with a lower-body injury.
Varone was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Friday. He replaced forward Daniel Catenacci who was placed on injured reserve after he sustained an upper-body injury in the Sabres’ 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
