BUFFALO, N.Y. -- It was fitting that Buffalo Coach Scotty Bowman got his first win against his old team after going back behind the bench, but it took two marvelous plays by his Sabres before they registered a 5-4 decision over the Montreal Canadiens.
Buffalo, which blew a 3-0 first period lead, rallied in the third Sunday on a shot by Lindy Ruff from far on the boards to the right of Montreal goaltender Rick Wamsley and a save by goalie Don Edwards that has to have the Canadiens Keith Acton still shaking his head.
'Oh, is that the first time?,' asked Bowman, who enjoyed his first coaching victory over his old team. Two other times that he had been behind the bench during his three-year on and off coaching career with Buffalo, the games had ended in ties.
Bowman decided Friday in Boston to replace Jimmy Roberts after the team had been experiencing a slump, a slump that was lowlighted by lack of confidence.
But even with Bowman behind the bench, the Sabres lost to the Bruins 6-4 Saturday.
'No, I didn't blame Jimmy (Roberts), but the team wasn't going well and I thought it was time for a change,' said Bowman, who stepped down in December and named Roberts coach.
Buffalo, meanwhile, came out hitting against the Canadiens. Mike Foligno and Montreal's Craig Laughlin started throwing punches at each other only six seconds into the game.
The Sabres took a 3-0 lead before the midway point of the first period on goals by John Van Boxmeer, former Canadien Yvon Lambert and Andre Savard. But Montreal battled back to cut the margin to 3-2 on goals by Mark Hunter and Doug Wickenheiser before the period ended.
The Canadiens took a 4-3 lead when Mario Tremblay scored at 2:42 of the second period and Craig Laughlin got another at 8:39, but Brent Peterson tied the game at 4-4 when he scored at 15:24.
Ruff broke the tie at 1:23 of the third when his wrist shot from a bad angle eluded Montreal goaltender Rick Wamsley.
Edwards, meanwhile, robbed Acton less than three minutes later at the end of a two-on-one break.
'I dove across because I was playing for the shot and then he (Acton) got the pass. I was down and he turned around and took a lot of time before he shot,' explained Edwards. 'The thing that was going through my mind was 'don't take your eyes off the puck!''
'I was very fortunate that he shot it where I had the chance to grab it.'
Buffalo's penalty killers held the Canadiens without a shot on goal.
'I think he (Scotty) made us realize how we'd been playing,' said Ruff. 'Jimmy Roberts was taking all the losses on his shoulder and we were playing lackluster hockey. Scotty's coming back shook us up.'
'It was a big game for us,' added Edwards, whose Sabres now trail second place Boston by one point in the Adams Division. Montreal has clinched the Adams Division title. 'I think Scotty made us realize a lot of things we were doing wrong, but the big thing was to play aggressively and get more body contact.'
