MONTREAL -- The first two months, Max Pacioretty looked like a shadow of his goal-scoring self. Since December, he's looked liked the sniper the Montreal Canadiens have always been able to count on.

Pacioretty scored his second hat trick of the season and sixth of his career on Tuesday night to lead the Canadiens to a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre.

"I got a lot of help from my linemates," said the Canadiens captain, who scored on just three shots on goal. "They made it really easy for me. I thought as a line we played really well, we were dangerous pretty much every shift. When our line's going the right way, we're very, very dangerous."

Line-mates Alexander Radulov and Phillip Danault each picked up a pair of assists on the night. For Radulov, it was his team-leading 11th multi-point game of the season.

David Desharnais and Paul Byron also scored for Montreal (30-14-7). Dmitry Kulikov and Brian Gionta connected for Buffalo.

It put a dent into the Sabres' playoff hopes after a strong January put them within potential striking distance.

"It's disappointing how softly we came out," Gionta said. "We had no support for each other and so in turn, we had a lot of turnovers, and they take advantage of that."

Carey Price stopped 36 shots. Robin Lehner made 30 saves for the Sabres (20-20-9).

Gionta made it 5-2 when he was left alone in front on the power play at 17:48, giving him 14 points (11 goals, three assists) in his last 14 road games against his former team.

Both sides had their chances in the first period but it was the Canadiens who got on the board first.

Radulov drove up the right side to create a partial 2-on-1 with Pacioretty before feeding the Habs captain, who roofed it from the left circle at 17:27 of the opening frame.

The Canadiens came out strong in the second and it paid off at 7:48. Phillip Danault put the pressure on Marcus Foligno behind the Sabres net and forced a turnover that he dished off to Radulov in the corner. The puck was off his stick quickly to Pacioretty in the slot, who fired home a one-timer for his team-leading fourth multigoal game of the season.

Another defensive miscue helped Montreal extend its lead to 3-0. Cody Franson sent a clearing attempt along the boards that landed right on Sven Andrighetto's stick, and Andrighetto sent it through Zemgus Girgensons' legs to Desharnais, who skated to the slot before sniping his fourth of the season at 11:12.

A tic-tac-toe play put the Canadiens ahead by four at 18:38. Another Sabres clearing attempt never made it out of the zone, leading to quick passing plays from Tomas Plekanec to a streaking Andrei Markov to Byron in the slot.

"We gave them opportunities, we mismanaged the puck, we turned the puck over, gave them chances," said Sabres coach Dan Bylsma. "They had numerous chances in the first period as well and they just took over in the second period and played second period hockey on us. In the offensive zone, we handed them the puck, gave them great opportunities to score. I think they had 19 chances through two periods and could have had a couple more if it wasn't for Robin making some big saves."

Pacioretty completed the hat trick at 3:24 of the third when he picked up a loose puck in a scramble of bodies in front of Lehner for his 24th of the season.

"We played 10 games in 15 days before (tonight)," Radulov said. "Obviously, it's good to have some time off and get your health and everything going. It was nice to see the guys coming back. I think we played a good game and all the guys. It was a little bit not good at the end when we let up and gave up two goals. We can't do that."

Kulikov got the Sabres on the board at 16:01 when his point shot off a Sabres face-off win beat Price and Gionta made it 5-2 when he was left alone in front on the power play at 17:48.

NOTES: D Nikita Nesterov, acquired last week from the Tampa Bay Lightning, made his Canadiens debut. Montreal C David Desharnais (24 games), D Greg Pateryn (24 games) and D Andrei Markov (19 games) all returned after long stints on injured reserve. ... Montreal D Jeff Petry missed the game with the flu. ... Sabres D Jake McCabe missed his fourth game with a shoulder injury while LW Nicolas Deslauriers was a healthy scratch. ... Montreal scratched LW Jacob De La Rose and D Mark Barberio. ... The game was the third of four meetings this season and second in 10 days in Montreal between the two clubs.