MONTREAL (AP) Buffalo rookie Devon Levi made 32 saves in his first game at hometown Bell Centre to help the Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 on Thursday night.

The 22-year-old Levi, from nearby Dollard-des-Ormeaux, grew up watching the Canadiens and idolizing goalie Carey Price.

ā€œIā€™ve dreamt of this moment since I was 5,ā€ Levi said. ā€œItā€™s incredible to be there, in that crease, after him and a lot of other great goalies, it was a really special night.ā€

He said there were 99 family members and friends in attendance.

Tage Thompson had two goals and an assist, Jeff Skinner added a goal and three assists, Casey Mittelstadt and Jack Quinn each had a goal and an assist and Rasmus Dahlin scored into an empty net. The Sabres improved to 16-19-4.

Joel Armia scored for Montreal, and Jake Allen stopped 32 shots. Returning from a seven-game trip, the Canadiens dropped to 16-17-5.

ā€œI think our forecheck was a little off tonight, we were managing the puck poorly, turning pucks over - all the stuff that hurts you,ā€ Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. ā€œWe just didnā€™t have our game tonight, we were trying to find it but just didnā€™t have it.ā€

Levi turned away all 15 shots in the first period and looked prepared early after an especially long morning skate before the game to ā€œtake it all in.ā€

The netminder says he normally listens to the Canadiensā€™ pregame song, ā€œFix Youā€ by Coldplay, through his headphones before taking the ice.

ā€œI didnā€™t have to tonight because the jumbotron played it for me,ā€ said Levi, who played two seasons at Northeastern.

Mittelstadt finished off a feed from Skinner on a power play to open the scoring at 5:33 of the first. Skinner doubled the lead with another power-play goal 1:26 seconds later after Mitchell Stephens took an interference call.

The 31-year-old Skinner received a cross-ice pass from Tuch before beating Allen for his 26th goal against the Canadiens - tied with Toronto center Auston Matthews for second-most among active players.

Armia got one back on the penalty kill, taking the puck from Dahlin and using him as a screen on a wrist shot over Leviā€™s left shoulder with 6:41 left in the period.

Buffalo squashed Montrealā€™s momentum in the third period with even-strength goals from Quinn and Thompson, who made it 4-1 at 8:35 by tapping home a feed from Skinner.

Levi kept Montreal from clawing back with a point-blank save on Josh Anderson minutes later.

After Dahlin scored an empty-net goal with over five minutes left, Levi was at it again, this time by flashing the glove on Cole Caufield.

ā€œTonight is an example of many other nights that heā€™s turning in a great performance for us,ā€ Buffalo coach Don Granato said. ā€œHeā€™s a talented guy, he has some calm to him, heā€™s unwavered in lots of instances, so weā€™re glad to have him.ā€

UP NEXT

Sabres: At Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

Canadiens: Host New York Rangers on Saturday night.

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