MONTREAL — The Bell Centre crowd was ready. The Montreal Canadiens had been gone for

seven straight games, leaving one of the NHL's best hockey towns eager for action. The fact

Montreal went 6-1 on its road trip increased the adrenaline even more.

Then the Buffalo Sabres forced the 21,273 fans to sit around with little to cheer. It's a

common tale.

The Sabres improved to 12-6 on the road with Sunday's 1-0 victory. They have the sixth-most

road wins despite playing the second-fewest road games.

"It's a tough building to come and play in," Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers said. "It's a

loud atmosphere. I thought after the first [period], especially, we started to get our game

going and we started skating."

The Canadiens were able to generate little against the Sabres, quieting the sellout crowd.

That's an important ingredient for a road-victory recipe.

"We want to dull it down for them every night, make it really boring for them, pack down

and support each other," Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller said. "It's important on the road.

You're not always going to have those games that break wide open. I thought we did a good job

of controlling the puck, and that was the important part."

The Canadiens have lost four straight at home and are 9-10-2 in the birthplace of hockey.

"We haven't been here for two weeks," coach Jacques Martin said. "I thought we played a

pretty good hockey game today. It could have gone either way."

. . .

Sabres right wing Jason Pominville, benched for much of the third period in the Sabres' 4-3

victory over Atlanta on Friday, returned well from his rare seat. Pominville set up Tim

Connolly's goal in the second period and led the Sabres with five shots.

"Pommer was really determined," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "He went through some bodies.

He was hard on some people."

. . .

Sabres right wing Patrick Kaleta missed his third straight game with a leg injury suffered

Dec. 27 in St. Louis. Kaleta, who also suffered head and neck injuries last month, has played

in just two of the last nine games.

"They decided just to shut him down for one day," Ruff said. "They think it's a little bit

of a nerve issue pinching that just needs to relax a little bit."

Andrej Sekera continued to be the odd man out on the blue line, getting scratched for the

third straight game. He has been relegated to the role of seventh defenseman with Chris

Butler's return from an ankle injury.

. . .

The victory was the 464th of Ruff's career, moving him into a fourth-place tie for most

wins with one team. Glen Sather won 464 games with the Edmonton Oilers. Ruff will go for 465

on Wednesday when the Sabres host the Tampa Bay Lightning in HSBC Arena to start a three-game

homestand.