The Sabres look to extend their winning streak to 4 games on Monday afternoon.

Beck Malenstyn has seen the Buffalo Sabres’ identity come together through their current three-game winning streak, a stretch that has been characterized by physicality, strong special teams, stringent defense, and timely saves.

“I think it’s just showing the amount of time and effort that we put into our game, what we want it to look like,” Malenstyn said. “The last few games have been a really good example of that.”

The Sabres will look to extend their streak when they host the Montreal Canadiens at KeyBank Center on Monday afternoon.

It will be the team’s annual Military Appreciation game, including tributes to past and current members of the United States Armed Forces and special initiatives to raise funds for the Tunnel for Towers Foundation, which is dedicating to eradicating homelessness among veterans.

Find more on the Military Appreciation initiatives here.

The puck drops at 12:30 p.m. Here’s what you need to know in the meantime.

Lineup notes

Mattias Samuelsson will rejoin the lineup on defense in place of Dennis Gilbert, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff announced. Samuelsson has sat out the last three games.

Ruff was asked about what he hopes to see from the defenseman in his return.

“First pass, and then kill plays,” Ruff said. “Big body, be physical when you have the moment to be physical."

The rest of the lineup is expected to remain unchanged from the last three wins.

Storylines

1. Sticking with the process

The Sabres’ current three-game winning streak started on the heels of three consecutive losses. Each of those games were defined by a handful of costly mistakes that overshadowed otherwise strong performances.

“I think sticking with our process, just continuing to harp on those small details, we ironed those things out and we’ve looked like a really good hockey team these last three games,” Malenstyn said.

“We’ve looked really connected, really fast. We’re not spending a lot of time in our D zone, we’re playing that transition game, we’re holding onto pucks in the offensive zone, putting them under pressure. So, I think just a culmination of all that.”

The winning recipe has included a balance between playing aggressively and still being committed to staying above the puck defensively – in other words, having enough players back to counteract rushes against.

“I think with how well this group skates as a whole, D and forwards, it allows us to be both aggressive and then still get above the puck,” Malenstyn said. “You get stuck on the wrong side of it, that’s when you give up odd-man rushes, and good players are going to make plays with time and space.

“I think for the most part we’ve done a really good job of being able to stay aggressive on the forecheck but have that responsibility and that mindset of, ‘OK, I’m just going to take my medicine, turn back here, get above the puck,’ and then we’re able to turn it back over and go back on offense. So, I think it’s a maturity thing and I think we’ve done a really good job of it recently.”

2. Success on special teams

The Sabres have scored at least one power-play goal in six of the last seven games dating back to Oct. 26. They’ve gone 7-for-23 in that span, a success rate of 30.4 percent.

The penalty kill, too, has been a staple of the current winning streak. The Sabres are 10-for-10 in the last three games, including a 4-on-3 kill in overtime that ushered the game into a shootout against Calgary on Saturday.

Malenstyn, who has played more regular minutes on the penalty kill, attributed to the success to confidence and knowing the balance between patience and aggressiveness.

“It’s a simple recipe but it’s hard to do sometimes I think,” he said. “You run at these guys too much, they have a lot of skill to make plays. But you also don’t want to just give them all the time and space in the world either, because they can make it then, too.”

3. Scouting the Canadiens

The Canadiens are 0-5-1 in their last six games after falling 4-1 in Toronto on Saturday. They have allowed an average of 4.07 goals per game this season, the highest mark in the NHL.

Cole Caufield leads the Canadiens, and is tied for fourth in the NHL, with 10 goals. Brendan Gallagher enters Monday on a three-game goal scoring streak, which has upped his season total to seven.

Game notes Tage Thompson enters the game on a three-game goal scoring streak. His 10 goals this season are tied (along with Caufield) for fourth in the NHL, just one off the league lead currently shared by Nikita Kucherov, William Nylander, and Sam Reinhart. Thompson has scored nine of his goals at even strength, which is tied for second in the league. Kucherov holds the lead with 10. JJ Peterka and Rasmus Dahlin enter Monday on three-game point streaks. Peterka has two goals and three assists in that span; Dahlin has one goal and three assists. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has made 107 saves on 113 shots in the last four games, a .947 save percentage.