Sabres Blanked 2-0 at Montreal

MONTREAL (AP) -- Cristobal Huet made 29 saves for his first shutout in nearly a year and Tomas Plekanec scored in the second period to send the Montreal Canadiens on to a 2-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.

Huet stopped 16 shots in the first period on his way to his 14th career shutout. It was his first since Nov. 28 when he beat Florida 1-0 in a shootout.

Plekanec scored his fourth goal of the season on a 2-on-1 at 13:04 of the second.

The Canadiens, who have won six of eight (6-1-1), were outshot 9-1 in the third period before Bryan Smolinski scored into an empty net with 21.8 seconds remaining.

Ryan Miller stopped 17 shots for Buffalo, which has lost three in a row (0-2-1), including a 4-2 loss to Florida on Friday.

Montreal has yet to trail after the first period through 14 games this season. Huet did his part to keep that streak intact as the Sabres enjoyed a 16-8 margin in shots in the opening period.

The Canadiens' defense stepped up in the second, limiting Buffalo to four shots.

An odd-man rush led to Montreal breaking through for the game's first goal.

Canadiens right wing Andrei Kostitsyn put a centering pass to Plekanec, who backhanded the puck past Miller with Sabres right wing Maxim Afinogenov checking him from behind.

Afinogenov put a shot just wide of the left post in the dying moments of a power play late in the second.

Montreal narrowly missed a second goal just before the end of the second when Steve Begin couldn't handle Mathieu Dandenault's pass on a 2-on-1.

Sabres center Adam Mair left after injuring his right leg in the second period. He did not return.