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After a strong Game 3 showing, the Habs were back at home Tuesday to try to take a two-game lead on the Sabres. They grabbed the lead in the first period but weren’t able to hold on, falling 3-2.
Buffalo made a trio of changes for this one. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got the start in goal instead of Alex Lyon. On the back end, Luke Schenn played in his first game of the series, replacing Logan Stanley. Meanwhile, up front, Konsta Helenius took Sam Carrick’s spot and in doing so, officially activated the first year of his entry-level contract. As for the Habs, Martin St. Louis elected to not make any changes to his winning lineup as is often the case, meaning the group lined up as follows:
Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Evans – Demidov
Texier – Danault – Anderson
Bolduc – Veleno – Dach
Matheson – Carrier
Hutson – Dobson
Guhle – Xhekaj
10 Thoughts
1) Considering Buffalo had lost big in two straight games, you had to think they were going to come out strong. It took a few minutes but once the Sabres got going, the Habs were on their heels. A few shifts later, they were rewarded. Montreal got a little discombobulated defensively in their own end. Joe Veleno was covering Mattias Samuelsson at the point but let the defender get behind him untouched. Josh Norris threaded a cross-ice pass through and it was a tap-in for Samuelsson to open the scoring. Buffalo had a lot of success in the first game getting Dobes to go side-to-side. They haven’t had as much success since then in that regard but they made it work that time.
2) Then things got weird. Not even 90 seconds after the goal, Jakub Dobes looked to make a big glove save on Jack Quinn. He made the stop but his glove was behind the goal line. After a long (and I mean long) review, it was determined that the puck completely crossed the line. There wasn’t conclusive evidence from the net cam but on the opposite side, the puck landed in the webbing and the webbing was over the line. But it didn’t matter. The Habs then challenged for goalie interference and it was ruled (after a lengthy review in itself) that Helenius interfered with Dobes several seconds earlier, nullifying the goal. The overall stoppage was around 12 minutes, or two-thirds of an intermission with absolutely nothing to show for it in the end. And that was a win for the Habs.
3) The home team was a little more galvanized after the Quinn tally was taken off the board. The second line got to work. Buffalo didn’t quite clear the zone, allowing Ivan Demidov to set up Jake Evans all alone in front of the net. He was stopped but he chased down the rebound behind the net. Alex Newhook skated to the slot, took the feed, and beat Luukkonen with a quick snapper to tie the game. To this point, they were being outplayed quite a bit but the Canadiens were surely content that they weren’t losing in spite of that.
4) The back half of the period featured a half-dozen minors, leading to some four-on-four play and power play time. On Montreal’s second advantage, Luukkonen pulled a Caufield shot off the goal line that probably would have given them the lead even though the net was off its moorings at that point. Then, in the final minute, Tage Thompson gave Kaiden Guhle a late cross-check. It wasn’t hard (and Guhle went down pretty easily) but it was after the whistle and unnecessary contact so he was sent to the box. The top unit went to work and with 15 seconds left, the puck went to Caufield. He drove to the net and slid one five-hole on Luukkonen to give Montreal the lead. In their worst period of the series, they found themselves in front. Last game was full of bounces but that period was full of good fortune for the Canadiens.
5) The penalty fest carried over to the second period. Montreal failed to capitalize on an early advantage for a Bowen Byram high-stick, with Caufield getting robbed twice. Then, Alexandre Carrier took a double-minor for high-sticking, sending the Sabres back to the power play. On the advantage, Tage Thompson dumped the puck in…and it went in. The Zamboni corner has provided some weird bounces over the years, several of which have helped the Habs. This didn’t. Instead of the puck bouncing around the boards as it often does, it went right toward Dobes, who wasn’t hugging the post. It hit his pad and went in the net on the most bizarre of tallies. Thompson had a 40-goal season and now has two absolute freebies in this series. The Habs killed the rest of the power play without fanfare but the damage had been done.
6) Play settled down for a bit after that which, for the Habs, wasn’t a bad thing. After special teams dominated most of the previous 20 minutes or so, it was good for some of the other players to get a bit of playing time in. And even with that, both Kirby Dach and Joe Veleno were under six minutes with Zach Bolduc barely ahead. Arber Xhekaj, meanwhile, was under four. St. Louis would normally not want that many players sitting for that long.
7) But the penalties returned soon enough. Rasmus Dahlin took his second interference penalty of the night but the Habs didn’t score. Jake Evans was high-sticked but it was missed. Then it was Alexandre Texier getting high-sticked and that one was caught, giving the Habs a late four-minute power play. There was no last-minute magic this time, however. One observation from that shift was that Juraj Slafkovsky looked way too casual handling the puck. Montreal’s power play is at its best when the puck is moving quickly with a purpose. Slowly going for a skate with the puck at the top of the blueline with Hutson basically getting out of the way is a momentum killer. He should not be the one handling the puck very much on that first wave.
8) Considering that the Habs were starting the third on their sixth power play, soon to be their seventh, it felt like a need-to-score situation. However, they weren’t able to come out with much urgency. Nick Suzuki had a good chance on the back half but that was about it. Opportunity squandered, and it came back to bite them.
9) In the second period, Evans was very animated about non-calls on the missed high stick and another he felt should have been a penalty not long after that. I note that as the officials were quick to catch a hold on him soon after the power play, sending Buffalo back to the man advantage. On that, Matheson was covering Zach Benson but was pulled away to try to break up a pass across. He tried but couldn’t do so, leaving Benson alone in the slot and he lifted a backhander past Dobes to give the Sabres the lead once more. Despite playing much better since the opening frame, now Montreal was trailing.
10) While the Habs didn’t score, they were pushing but weren’t able to generate many Grade-A chances with Buffalo playing better defensively. Meanwhile, Dobes made a highlight-reel stop on Helenius to do his part to keep them in it. But even with the net empty, about the best they could do were some screened point shots. That wasn’t enough to beat Luukkonen and it’s now a best-of-three series with the Sabres retaking home-ice advantage. Considering that the Habs have won four games on the road in these playoffs, that shouldn’t necessarily be a huge concern.
HW Habs 3 Stars
1st Star: Cole Caufield – Last game, I noted that his goal wasn’t enough to get him back to form but it was a step in the right direction. This performance is another big step in that direction. In the first half of the game especially, he was Montreal’s most dangerous threat, scoring once on the power play and being robbed on two others, plus a near-goal that Luukkonen pulled off the goal line. Ideally, there would be some five-on-five production in there but this is probably the best Caufield has looked in the playoffs.
Stats: 1 goal, even rating, 5 shots, 21:21 TOI
2nd Star: Alex Newhook – With the top line still scuffling and the bottom six not producing quite as much, Newhook has done a great job stepping up. Now five goals in the series, all at even strength, no less. He had a tough night on the draws but otherwise, another very solid game as he’s largely dragging the second line into the scoring mix.
Stats: 1 goal, +1 rating, 5 shots, 3 hits, 2/8 faceoffs, 14:26 TOI
3rd Star: Mike Matheson – There are nights when Matheson is noticeable for the wrong reasons. This was not one of those; he was noticeable for a lot of strong plays, especially offensively. I can’t quibble the Benson goal too much as the box system dictated that he had to try to break up the pass and sometimes, it just doesn’t work out. Lane Hutson does a lot to lead the attack for Montreal but Matheson certainly shouldered a good chunk of the load in this one.
Stats: 0 points, +1 rating, 3 shots, 2 hits, 2 blocks, 22:01 TOI
