Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo but it was a quick night for goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who gave up two goals in the first eight minutes and was replaced by backup James Reimer, who finished with 26 saves.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen gave up 2 goals early and was replaced by backup James Reimer, who finished with 26 saves.

Lindy Ruff had planned to utilize an emergency backup goalie opposite James Reimer for Wednesday’s practice at KeyBank Center, with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen scheduled to join the team along with fellow 4 Nations Face-Off participants Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju later this week.

Mike Matheson scored at 1:21 of overtime to lift the surging Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.

Reimer stopped 27 of 29 shots after replacing Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen midway through the first period of Thursday's 5-2 loss to the Hurricanes. Reimer ended up getting saddled with the loss, as the first goal he gave up -- a Mikko Rantanen power-play tally that came less than two minutes after he took over the Buffalo crease -- proved to be the game-winner.

Mike Matheson scored at 1:21 of overtime to lift the surging Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night. Nick Suzuki had a goal and three assists for the Canadiens who, despite blowing a 3-0 lead,

MONTREAL -- Mike Matheson scored 1:21 into overtime, and the Montreal Canadiens recovered from blowing a three-goal lead to push their longest winning streak in three years to five games with a 4-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Bell Centre on Monday.

Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson scored goals for the Sabres to ignite the comeback. Buffalo finished with a 36-20 lead in shots but went 0-for-4 on the power play. Montreal went 2-for-5 with the extra man, with four of its opportunities coming during the first period.

The Sabres (24-29-6) have lost four of their last six games, and they are 4-13-1 on the road since their three-game California sweep in November. The Canadiens (30-26-5) extended their win streak to five games,

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Buffalo Sabres inspired a shred of hope after going 7-3-0 over a 10-game stretch before losing back-to-back games, bringing any hopes crashing to the ground.

Nick Suzuki recorded a goal and three assists for the Montreal Canadiens, who extended their winning streak to five games with a 4-3 overtime victory against the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Monday.