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NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Buffalo Sabres at Montreal Canadiens
Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night, with the goal of leaving the Bell Centre with a 3-1 series lead.

As expected, it was yet another hard-fought battle, but the Habs only scored on one of the seven powerplays they were given, leading to a 3-2 win for the Sabres.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Ode To Newfoundland

The Sabres opened the scoring during what was yet another poor start from the Habs. Regardless of all the many, many improvements the Canadiens have put forth since the beginning of the rebuild, they still haven’t nailed down the first 10 minutes of every game.

It appeared that the Sabres had established a 2-0 advantage, but a smart challenge by Martin St-Louis was successful, restoring the one-goal lead.

The challenge led to an immediate and noticeable uptick in effort from the Canadiens, culminating in a goal from the usual suspect, Alex Newhook.

It was his sixth goal of the playoffs, and his fifth in just three games.

Newhook is the stick that’s stirring Montreal’s offence, there’s no doubt about it.

Defend At All Costs

Seeing as the Sabres decided to run rookie netminder Jakub Dobes at full speed in Game 4, the Habs took no chances in Game 5, fiercely defending their most valuable player any time traffic started to build up.

Star Impact

Following what can only be described as a soft call on Tage Thompson, Canadiens sniper Cole Caufield found the back of the net for a second consecutive game.

It was a powerplay goal, which means he’s still yet to score at 5v5, but you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth, especially in the playoffs.

Caufield is heating up, and that’s nothing but great news for the Habs.

Can’t Win Them All

All things considered, the Habs have actually had decent luck in the playoffs, but it was the Sabres who benefited from a very fortuitous bounce in Game 4.

Tage Thompson’s shot careened off a seam in the boards, bouncing off Dobes’ back, and landing behind him, to tie the game at 2 in the second period.

Penny Drops

Montreal deserves credit for using their speed wisely, but there’s clearly something off when it comes to the Sabres in the second round.

They’re showing the type of discipline we expected from the Canadiens, constantly taking penalties that are not only blatant, but are also completely useless.

Fortunately for the Sabres, Montreal mostly failed to capitalize on the many, many powerplays they were gifted.

While the Canadiens struggled to make much of their powerplays, the Sabres earned a 3-2 lead via a Zach Benson goal on the man advantage.

It was Buffalo’s second powerplay goal of the game, and a good reminder that special teams go a very long way in ensuring success in the playoffs.

To Dobes’ credit, he did have a very good game, despite the fact that the Habs outshot the Sabres.

At 5v5, Buffalo had an edge in high-danger chances in the first two periods, to the tune of 8-3. Montreal eventually generated a decent amount of scoring chances of their own, but that was more a matter of score effects, and the Sabres attempting to park the bus for half the period.

It was all for naught, as the Sabres managed to nurse their fragile lead long enough to emerge with the 3-2 win.

The Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Thursday, facing the Sabres in Buffalo. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

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By Marc Dumont
Marc has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for Journal Metro, The Athletic, The ... More about Marc Dumont

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