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MacArthur tallies twice as Sabres thump Canadiens

Nov 17, 2007 - 5:16 AM BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- The Buffalo Sabres finally found their offensive touch.

Clarke MacArthur scored a pair of goals and Thomas Vanek recorded two assists as the Sabres halted a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.

Daniel Paille and Drew Stafford also tallied for Buffalo, which eclipsed the two-goal mark for the first time in seven games.

"I thought we finally got rewarded," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "We've put together some great first periods, but we haven't scored. There have been first periods that we've dominated. We finally got a bounce off a skate and were rewarded for some hard work going to the net."

"We've been getting shots every game, a lot of shots," MacArthur added. "They're going to go in. They did tonight, and we have to keep that going."

Held to a total of seven goals in their previous six contests, the Sabres erupted for three in a span of 7 minutes, 23 seconds in the first period to take a commanding lead.

MacArthur began the outburst at 7:59, grabbing the rebound of Derek Roy's shot from the right faceoff dot and depositing it past goaltender Cristobal Huet for his second tally of the season.

Paille doubled Buffalo's lead with 7:41 remaining in the session. Defenseman Nolan Pratt unleashed a wrist shot from the left point that deflected off Paille, who was in the faceoff circle, and by Huet for his fourth goal.

"Thomas made a nice play back to Nolan," Paille said. "Nolan took the shot, I was just going to the net. It went off my knee. I think it hit the post and in. It was just one of those breaks.

"We finally got pucks to the net and screened the goalie. It feels great right now."

With 4:38 to go before intermission, Vanek carried the puck down the right wing and below the faceoff circle before dishing to Stafford, who had it go off his right skate and into the net. After a brief review, the play stood, giving Stafford his third tally of the campaign and Buffalo a 3-0 bulge.

"I didn't help the team in the first," Huet admitted. "On that, I'm disappointed. Obviously, it's not good to start a period like that, basically giving them the game."

Montreal got on the board two minutes into the middle period. After Bryan Smolinski forced Sabres defenseman Toni Lydman to make an ill-advised pass, Michael Ryder grabbed the puck in the left circle and moved to the slot before firing it past netminder Ryan Miller.

However, MacArthur answered with his second of the game at 6:45. Jochen Hecht picked up a loose puck behind the net and fed the 22-year-old, who buried a one-timer from the slot to cap his first career multi-goal performance.

"I just found a little hole there and I was lucky enough it went in," MacArthur said. "We're going to get breaks like that, and it'll go the other way."

Miller made 36 saves - including 18 in the second period - for the Sabres, who had lost six of seven.

"From my standpoint, I was just trying to keep my eyes on my own plate, worry about my dinner," Miller said. "Regardless of the score, I wanted to just play each period the best I could. I just want to focus on little things, small accomplishments."

Guy Carbonneau coached his 100th game and Huet turned aside 24 shots for Montreal, which fell for the first time in three meetings with Buffalo this season.

"Losing three in a row, we knew they were going to come into tonight and start the game hard. We just didn't react to it," Carbonneau said. "We made a lot of mistakes mentally. They looked like a team that wanted to get out of a hole. We just didn't respond."

"We weren't sharp," Canadiens defenseman Mike Komisarek added. "We weren't ready to battle. ... We were down 2- or 3-0 before we woke up. It's tough to win a game like that."