Suzuki, Caufield stay hot as Canadiens clobber Sabres for 4th straight win

Nick Suzuki had two goals and an assist and the Montreal Canadiens won their fourth straight game, blanking the visiting Buffalo Sabres 4-0 on Wednesday.

Craig Anderson made 25 saves for the Sabres, who lost their fourth straight.

Anderson had to be sharp in the first period as Buffalo struggled in the first half of the opening frame with several turnovers. Five minutes into the period, he robbed forward Laurent Dauphin point blank with a pad save and, with just under four minutes to go, denied Caufield with a sprawling stick save.

Suzuki capitalized on one of those giveaways to give Montreal a 1-0 lead at 6:52 of the first period. After intercepting Sabres centre Cody Eakin's pass attempt, Suzuki passed over to Caufield, who dished it back to his centre in the slot. The Canadiens have scored first in each of their past four wins.

Suzuki scored on a penalty shot to make it 2-0 at 5:57 of the second period, skating in and showing patience before going glove side on Anderson. Suzuki was awarded the penalty shot after he was hooked by Sabres forward Dylan Cozens.

WATCH | Suzuki waits out Anderson on 1st career penalty shot goal:

Caufield extended it to 3-0 at 1:18 of the third period, scoring off a weak shot off a Canadiens faceoff win that seemed to catch Anderson off guard.

Jake Evans scored into an empty net at 18:27 of the third period to make it 4-0.