It’s a new three-game series from here on out
Buffalo Sabres (6-4) vs Montreal Canadiens (6-5)
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM ET | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, New York
TV: TNT, truTV, HBO MAX, SN, CBC, TVAS
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
Montreal Canadiens
Record: 48-24-10 | 106 PTS
Division Ranking: 3rd in the Atlantic Division
Last Game: Lost to Buffalo 3-2
PP: 19.6% | Sabres 15.0%
PK: 77.8% | Sabres 83.3%
What to Watch
1. It’s A New Series
In many ways this is a brand new, three-game series with all to play for. Buffalo have two home games in those three, which you would think is an advantage but the Sabres are a mediocre 2-3 at home, and 4-1 on the road. If they can pull out a win tonight somehow, they can be back in Montreal to seal the series in front of the rabid Habs homers.
2. Buffalo Against The World
For long periods of time in Game 4 it felt like Montreal could do no wrong, while every time a Sabres plaver ran into or even breathed in the direction of the Habs they got penalized. It’s quite a dive reel as you will see below. Buffalo even got a goal chalked off for a phantom goalie interference penalty.
It served to galvanize the Sabres who battened the hatches and were able to pull out a gritty win in the end.
3. Time To Step Up
Lindy Ruff put the lines in a blender and topped it off with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen coming back between the pipes. Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch have endured a miserable series so far, so what better game than this for the pair to finally get some goals. That goes for the Jason Zucker and Jack Quinn as well.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards:
Krebs – Thompson – Tuch
Zucker – Helenius – Quinn
Benson – Norris – Doan
Greenway – McLeod – Malenstyn
Defense:
Dahlin – Samuelsson
Byram – Power
Schenn – Stanley
Goalies:
Luukkonen, Lyon
Montreal Canadiens
Forwards:
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovsky
Alex Newhook – Jake Evans – Ivan Demidov
Alexandre Texier – Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson
Zack Bolduc – Kirby Dach – Joe Veleno
Defense:
Mike Matheson – Alexandre Carrier
Lane Hutson – Kaiden Guhle
Arber Xhekaj – Noah Dobson
Goalies:
Dobeš, Fowler