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MONTREAL - There was just enough left in the Montreal Canadiens legs after rousing wins in Toronto and Boston to face the lowly Buffalo Sabres. Max Pacioretty broke a scoreless tie with his 100th career goal midway through the third period and former Sabre Daniel Briere added another as the Canadiens downed last-place Buffalo 2-0 on Tuesday night. "Mentally, the emotional high to come back and get motivated for a game against the Buffalo Sabres was the toughest part," said Briere. "We were a little sloppy in the first period, no doubt about it, but it got better as the game went on." Carey Price made 24 saves for the shutout as the Canadiens (41-26-7) posted a third win in a row and the sixth in seven games — a stretch that included a 2-0 win in Buffalo on March 16. The Sabres (20-44-8) have one win in their last 10 games. They played their fourth game of a five-game road trip that ends Thursday in Nashville. Their top player was goalie Matt Hackett, who made 33 saves in his second start of the season. "You have the give the kid credit. He played well," said Buffalo head coach Ted Nolan of Hackett. "He looks like hes fighting for a job and thats what you want." The Canadiens had played three games in four nights, including a 4-3 victory in Toronto on Saturday and a rousing but rough win against the rival Bruins in Boston on Monday night. With eight regular season games to play, they are two points up on Tampa Bay for second place in the Atlantic Division, but the Lightning have two games in hand. "This is a very important time for us," Price said after his fifth shutout of the season. "Obviously, everybodys trying to make the playoffs and to be able to pick up points against divisional teams and play well — its definitely a confidence-builder." The win in Boston was costly as two fourth line players left with injuries. Coach Michel Therrien said Dale Weise, who was checked from behind into the boards, has an upper-body injury and will be out for two to three weeks. He said Travis Moen, who jumped to Weises defence and got rocked by a punch from Bostons Kevan Miller, "feels better" but has a concussion and will miss at least a week. Already missing Brandon Prust to an injury, the Canadiens had a new fourth line of Lars Eller with Ryan White and Michael Bournival. They may have had the most jump on a team that looked short on energy to start the game. Through two scoreless periods, the loudest cheers from the 21,273 Bell Centre fans were for a sharp Price save on Matt DAgostini during a Sabres power play and when Olympic moguls gold medallist Alex Bilodeau was shown on the scoreboard screen. "The first period was even, we even outshot them (11-10), but we couldnt keep it going into the second," said Nolan. "Then there were bad penalties again." They finally broke the ice on a rush after a Buffalo power play when former Sabre Thomas Vanek slipped a diagonal pass that Pacioretty put in off Hackett at 10:53 of the third period. Briere picked the puck out of a crowd and beat Hackett with a wrist shot from close range on a power play at 16:54. "What I liked was that we didnt change anything when it was 0-0," said Therrien. "We stuck to the game plan and we were rewarded. Hackett played really well for them, but we were patient and disciplined with the puck. "I expected a tough start after the wins in Toronto and Boston." The Canadiens had a four-minute power play in the second period when DAgostini was called for holding and got an extra two for banging his stick on the glass in protest, but failed to cash in. Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers left the game at 6:15 of the third when he looked to hurt an arm or his ribs crashing into a goalpost. There was no immediate word on his condition. Myers was in his first game since sitting out five with an arm injury. Notes — With Weise and Moen both injured Monday in Boston, Eller and White returned to the Montreal lineup. Jarred Tinordi replaced veteran Francis Bouillon. . .Ville Leino, who is without a goal in 51 games this season, was back for the Sabres after sitting out two games in place of injured Zenon Konopka.. . The Canadiens swept their four-game season series with Buffalo. Brandon Pirri Jersey . The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics finished their recent trek at 3-1 on Monday in Salt Lake City when Rajon Rondo made a key jumper with 24.1 seconds remaining, as Boston held off the Utah Jazz, 107-102, at EnergySolutions Arena. Curtis McKenzie Jersey . Zimmermann became the National Leagues first 16-game winner, pitching seven solid innings to lead the Washington Nationals past the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 Wednesday night. http://www.officialgoldenknightsfanstore...ts-jersey-c-54/. The Cavaliers first-year forward will miss at least three weeks with a strained left knee, the latest setback for the No. Alex Tuch Jersey . In a matter of days, he went from unwanted to wanted, from fired to hired, from discarded by the Philadelphia Eagles with reputation tarnished to rock star treatment and a new fat contract from the Washington Redskins. Paul Stastny Jersey . For the Miami Heat, that was outstanding news. LeBron James scored the last of his 32 points on a layup that put Miami up for good with 11.JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith is waiting to select a backup quarterback. Watching a replay of the preseason finale at Jacksonville might make his decision an easy one. T.J. Yates made a strong case to be Matt Ryans backup Thursday night, throwing for 243 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-14 win over the Jaguars. Yates had shown little in the teams first three exhibitions, completing 39.4 per cent of his passes, with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Second-year player Sean Renfree posted better numbers and seemingly had an edge in the competition. But Yates shined against the Jaguars. "Things worked well tonight," said Yates, who spent his first three seasons in Houston. "Its taken me a little time to get use to this offence coming in so late. I was playing catch-up there in camp and preseason, and I was getting pretty frustrated with the way I was playing in some of the games. But I kept working hard, and coach gave me some more chances to do things." Yates highlight throw was a 67-yard touchdown strike to Freddie Martino in the second quarter, a deep ball that put Atlanta up 21-7. His other TD came on a swing pass to Antone Smith, who broke several tackles during the 66-yard catch and run. Yates completed 15 of 20 passes and was sacked twice. "I thought T.J. had an outstanding game," Smith said. "That quarterback battle has been an interesting one and thats going to lead us into a number of very difficult decisions." Renfree was 9-of-12 passing for 62 yards. Ryan didnt play, spending the game on the sideline with running back Steven Jackson and receivers Roddy White, Julio Jones and Harry Douglas. Defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux also got the night off. Jacksonville held out a number of first-teamers, too. Quarterback Chad Henne, running back Toby Gerhart, safety Johnathan Cyprien, linebacker Paul Posluszny, left tackle Luke Joeckel, tight end Marcedes Lewis, defensive end Chris Clemons and defensive tackle Roy Miller were among the teams healthy scratches. Kicker Josh Scobee, safety Winston Guy, cornerback Alan Ball, safety Craig Loston, right tackle Austin Pasztor, guard Zane Beadles, offensive tackle Josh Wells, tight end Clay Harbor and defensive tackle SenDerrick Marks were held out because of injuries. With Henne resting, first-round draft pick Blake Bortles got the start for Jacksonville and extended his impressive preseason.dddddddddddd Bortles completed 4 of 6 passes for 86 yards, including a 57-yard TD strike to fellow rookie Marqise Lee on the first play of the second quarter. "I probably waited too long to get to Marqise, but he did a good job of beating his guy off the line, getting downfield and making a play," said Bortles, the third overall pick in Mays draft. Bortles completed 32 of 51 passes for 521 yards in four exhibition games, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Despite Bortles steady improvement, hes a lock to open the season on the bench behind Henne. "As a competitor, you want to play," Bortles said. "You want to go play, obviously, but I think you have to understand your role. I understand mine. Chads our starter and Im the backup. Now my role kind of shifts. Ive got to go get try and get work in and get better at practice, do stuff for the defence on scout team and improve in those ways." Henne ended the preseason 25-of-38 passing for 230 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions. More pressing questions for Jacksonville involve the offensive line. Rookie centre Luke Bowanko, a sixth-round pick from Virginia, started in place of Mike Brewster and looked sharp again. Brewster played in the second half and grounded a snap past quarterback Ricky Stanzi — his third bad snap of the preseason. Brewster could go from being the starter to being on the street when final roster cuts come Saturday. "When you have a couple bad snaps in the first game and then you throw a low one back there in the last game, I mean, yeah, its not a comforting feeling," Brewster said. "But I know I can play in this league. I have played in this league. "Its tough, so well see. Whatever happens, happens. I cant blame anybody but myself, and whatever the problem is, Ive got to move beyond that and not let it keep on." NOTES: Jaguars WRs Tandon Doss (ankle) and Ace Sanders (leave of absence) made their preseason debuts, but Doss sustained another ankle injury and could be out a while. ... Jaguars rookie CB Rashaad Reynolds left with a hand injury and will need surgery. ... Falcons rookie RB Devonta Freeman had 87 yards — 42 rushing and 45 receiving. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '