MONTREAL — Max Pacioretty led his team to victory with his second hat trick of the season but the Montreal Canadiens’ captain gave all the credit to his two linemates. Pacioretty scored once per period as Montreal beat the visiting Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Tuesday night in the first game back for both teams since the NHL all-star break. The centreman made it 3-0 for the home side in the second period after a bad giveaway by Cody Franson deep in his own zone. Markov had the primary assist on Paul Byron’s tic-tac-toe goal that made it 4-0 for Montreal at the end of the second period. “They had numerous chances in the first period and they just took over in the second period.

Source: National Post February 01, 2017 03:43 UTC