Buffalo showed no signs of rust, starting fast and killing off Montreal with two power play goals
Boxscore
Score: Buffalo Sabres 4-2 Montreal Canadiens Shots: BUF 16-28 MTL
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Doan 2 (Benson); McLeod 1 PPG (Benson, Doan); Greenway 1 (Samuelsson); Byram 4 PPG (McLeod)
Montreal Canadiens Goals: Suzuki 2 PPG (Slafkovsky, Demidov); Dach 3 (Bolduc)
Quick Thoughts
Zach Benson Starts Hot
Zach Benson was built for the playoffs. Here’s my favorite Benny meme and I stand by it.
After being a constant thorn in the Bruins’ side in the first round, he immediately became a headache for the Canadiens drawing a tripping penalty from Lane Hutson within seconds of the puck drop.
The early power play came too soon though with Buffalo unable to even set up for most of the two minutes. Montreal came back strong after that, but goaltender Alex Lyon made those key, timely saves that allowed Buffalo to go up the other end to score.
And score they did, with Benson taking advantage of Hutson falling over backing up, pump-faking a shot that grounded both Noah Dobson and Jakub Dobeš, and his pass to the back post found Josh Doan to tip in for the opener.
Buffalo have 15 goals within 10 seconds of a turnover and were +12 in the first round in that metric adding another today on Doaner’s opener.
The Sabres had a few big early hits even though the Habs had more possession and better chances, but it was Alex Tuch who had the best chance on another cross-ice pass.
Surely they couldn’t keep up this breakneck, end-to-end pace could they? Well, they did.
Nick Suzuki had a trip on Bowen Byram for a second PP. Habs won the crucial faceoffs on both attempts, and poor puck handling kept killing the first power play unit. The second unit did much better with the puck, with Ryan McLeod generating plenty of pace on the drop pass.
It was no surprise then that Doan and Benny were both involved in the second goal as the latter found a wide-open McLeod with a pass through the blue paint, 2-0.
The Habs hit the iron twice, both deflected off Lyon. Buffalo took a lot of chances giving the Bruins odd-man looks, but can’t take that risk against the more talented Habs.
Off a rush the visitors drew a Dahlin interference penalty. The Habs powerplay looked very slick, with the Sabres selling out to block shots, which allowed Juraj Slafkovsky to find Suzuki open at the back post.
Logan Stanley went to the locker room early and didn’t return until the second period, having played just over two minutes with what looked like a lower leg injury from Hutson’s skate.
The Other Guys Show Up
Jordan Greenway had made his presence felt early on with some big hits in the first period, but found another way to impact the game early in the second. As he drove into the Montreal zone, Tyson Kozak drove across the front of him and with Dobeš’ vision partly obstructed, Greenway snapped a shot that beat the goalie’s glove high to make it 3-1.
Off a quick break McLeod centered for Jack Quinn and he absolutely hammered his shot off the pipe. On the same play Kayden Guhle drew a penalty that led to the third Sabres power play.
Dahlin then snuck in behind everyone but a combination of Dobeš and the post kept the Sabres captain out. And then once again Buffalo’s second power play unit got the job done, with McLeod showing brilliant hand-eye coordination to pick a Matheson clearance out of the air to feed Bowen Byram, who took his time before flaying the puck into the top corner where mama hides the cookies (😢 RIP RJ), 4-1 to the Sabres and not even halfway through the game.
Malenstyn took a phantom high-sticking penalty right off the next face-off but the Sabres top penalty-killing unit played a heroic 1:55 shift to keep the score as is.
With six minutes to play, the Sabres second line (Zucker – McLeod – Quinn) had the Habs hemmed in for well over two minutes as they rotated the puck beautifully, keeping the pressure on the visitors and being patient in possession as they had the goaltender moving side to side. Dahlin had two bites at the apple there, but thanks to Dobeš it stayed 4-1.
Thompson had a poor turnover in the neutral zone that allowed Kirby Dach charge the net, but with the Sabres’ aggressive dmen already heading up the ice, he had another chance to throw his stick at Lyon’s rebound and was able to elevate it over the goalie’s shoulder to make it 4-2 with about three minutes to play. Live by the sword, die by the blade.
Buffalo had a bunch of giveaways that led to scoring opportunities in the first period for the Canadiens, and they cleaned that up in the second. Sabres went 9-7 on shots, and 13-9 in scoring chances, for a 15-17 and 25-17 after two.
Shutting Down The Third
A poor start to the third with the Habs winning the faceoff and leading to a Cole Caulfield odd-man shot on Lyon within ten seconds into the final period.
Zucker then got to the back boards and passed to the front for a Quinn one-timer that didn’t hit the target with the goal gaping, more frustration for the forward.
The Habs definitely looked the hungrier of the two sides to open the period, but Buffalo just needed to keep their composure.
Scoring chances remained limited past the halfway mark of the period.
Quinn fired a shot off the outside of the net. Kozak had a steal and streaked down the right, but his centering attempt just evaded Greenway crashing the net.
The Sabres fourth line was a revelation tonight, making the big hits, holding the puck when needed and even getting scoring contributions, not much else you can ask for.
Buffalo were able to hold off a tiring Montreal side in the closing stages, and with Martin St. Louis choosing not to pull his goalie until very late thanks to the Sabres ferocious for check, this was not a nearby ending at all, 4-2 final score and the Sabres take the series lead 1-0.
At The Horn
Buffalo picked up where they left off in Game Six against Boston in their playing style, with the added benefit of getting two power play goals thanks to the second unit and the second and fourth lines both showing up on the scoreboard on a big way to seal the win.
Alex Lyon was his usual unflappable self between the pipes, and was as important a part of this win as anyone else.