BUFFALO, New York (AP) Andrei Markov had a goal and four assists and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 7-2 on Friday to run its season-opening winning streak to eight games.
The Canadiens are two victories away from matching the NHL record set by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1993-94 and matched by the Sabres in 2006-07.
Brendan Gallagher and Dale Weise each scored twice, and Max Pacioretty and Torrey Mitchell also scored. Mike Condon made 34 saves, and P.K. Subban and Tomas Plekanec each had three assists.
Matt Moulson and Ryan O’Reilly scored for Buffalo, and Cody Franson had two assists. Chad Johnson allowed all seven goals.
Montreal opened the scoring with 5:25 left in the first period. Subban and Weise worked a 2-on-1 against Jake McCabe that ended with Weise’s one-timer past Johnson.
Johnson gave up a soft goal 45 seconds into the second, leaving the post open on a rebound after spilling Gallagher’s backhander back to the shooter.
The Sabres got on the board off a no-look backhand pass from Sam Reinhart. He was gliding past the goal line when he dropped the puck to Moulson for a hard snap shot past Condon.
Buffalo tied it 6 minutes later, with Franson navigating a diving shot-blocker and sliding the puck to O’Reilly for a one-timer that beat Condon low.
Montreal reclaimed the lead when Mitchell, a former Buffalo player, redirected Subban’s slap shot past Johnson with 6:29 left in the second. Markov needed 3 seconds of Montreal’s first power play to send a slap shot from the point past Johnson to make it 4-2 with 1:38 left in the period.
Gallagher added a power-play goal off a rebound 27 seconds into the third. Pacioretty picked up his goal on a low shot from the slot midway through the period, and Weise deflected Markov’s point shot home to complete the scoring with 4:37 left.
David Pastrnak broke a tie late in the second period and the Boston Bruins beat the New York Islanders 5-3.
Brett Connolly, Joonas Kemppainen and Ryan Spooner also scored for Boston. Jonas Gustavsson, starting in place of the struggling Tuukka Rask, finished with 23 saves to improve to 2-0.
David Krejci had an empty-netter with 2:25 remaining for his league-leading 12th point (five goals, seven assists), giving him a point in seven straight games.
Josh Bailey, Casey Cizikas Thomas Hickey scored for the Islanders. Jaroslav Halak stopped 21 shots while taking his first loss after winning his first two starts.
Ondrej Palat scored 36 seconds into overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-3.
Palat scored off a 3-on-1 rush, converting a tap in after a tic-tac-toe play with Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman.
Braydon Coburn, Cedric Paquette and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Lightning.
Nikolaj Ehlers, Drew Stafford and Blake Wheeler had goals for the Jets.
Evgeny Kuznetsov had three goals and two assists to help the Washington Capitals beat the Edmonton Oilers 7-4 for its fifth straight victory.
Kuznetsov opened the scoring on a backhander at 3:05 of the first period, gave Washington a 4-3 lead with another backhander at 6:17 of the second, and completed his first career hat trick with a snap shot on a power play with 3:01 left in the third period.
Also Friday, the Calgary Flames beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in overtime, the Boston Bruins topped the New York Islanders 5-3 and the Los Angeles Kings shut out the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0
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