The Buffalo Sabres hope to pick up where they left off Thursday when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

The Sabres ended a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 road win against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night, showing the Eastern Conference co-points leader they can go head-to-head with any team in the NHL.

"For our confidence, that's the standard now, the way we played (Thursday) night," Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson said. "It just shows we can beat -- I don't know if they're the best team in the league, but they're up there."

The Sabres received a major boost earlier in the week when right wing Tage Thompson returned from a nine-game absence because of a wrist injury.

Thompson, who combined for 85 goals the previous two seasons, had an assist in his first game back, a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, and scored in the win against the Bruins on Thursday.

Thompson said the key to Thursday's win was keeping things simple while staying aggressive.

"Just step over the board and try to win your shift," he said. "Try to win the battle, beat the guy across from you. Don't worry about the end result, and I think we did that (Thursday) night."

Getting off to a good start against Montreal should also benefit Buffalo, like it did against the Bruins.

The Sabres came into Thursday's game with the worst goal-differential in the first period in the NHL at minus-17, but they peppered Boston with 19 shots on goal in the scoreless opening frame.

"We made it a lot harder on the other team," Thompson said. "They had to earn every inch out there and that's going to have to continue moving forward."

The Canadiens thought they played better than the score indicated in a 4-0 loss to the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.

"If you go back, look at the tape and ignore the score, I think there's a lot to take from it," defenseman Mike Matheson said.

Montreal put 24 shots on Kings goalie Cam Talbot, including several from high-danger areas, but couldn't solve the netminder.

"You have to be opportunistic on your chances," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said.

Montreal lost by the same score to the red-hot Kings two weeks ago in Los Angeles, but they had better puck movement and more scoring chances in the latest meeting.

"I thought we played a lot better than we did in LA," Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said. "(We) hit I don't know how many posts, had a lot of scoring chances, once you go down to a team that plays like that, it's hard to get through their trap. They made it difficult on us to come back."

The Sabres are in the bottom third of the league in power-play percentage, but they'll try to capitalize on a Montreal penalty-kill unit that has allowed a power-play goal in four consecutive games and eight of the past 10.

--Field Level Media

Quickchart Matchup

Montreal Off vs  Buffalo Def

2.77 GF 3.23 GA 28.6 Shots 30.1 Shots 14 PP 12 PK

Buffalo Off vs  Montreal Def

2.91 GF 3.41 GA 28.3 Shots 34.2 Shots 10 PP 22 PK