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The rest of the second round gets going Monday and Wednesday nights, with our Montreal Canadiens advancing to meet the Buffalo Sabres. The HabsWorld writers provided their predictions on the rest of the playoff matches.

Eastern Conference

Montreal Canadiens vs Buffalo Sabres

Kevin Leveille predicts: Canadiens in 6 games
Richard Roy predicts: Canadiens in 6 games
Norm Szcyrek predicts: Canadiens in 7 games
Brian La Rose predicts: Sabres in 6 games

(Kevin) This is the most intriguing matchup of the second round. In the regular season, the Habs did not contain the Sabres’ size very effectively. But this is the playoffs and the Habs come in full of confidence after handling the veteran-savvy Lightning. The Habs hold a distinct advantage in net, while the Sabres hold one on the blue line, even with Dobson’s return. Up front might be the difference and what style of play can prevail might just decide the series. If the Suzuki-Caufield duo can get going, the Habs will pull off this series. If the size of the Sabres’ forwards can come through like it did in the regular season, then the Habs will be in trouble. The Habs had to find another gear physically and defensively to handle the Lightning, I don’t know that the Sabres have gone to that place yet. That means an early advantage for the Habs that I think they ride to the Conference finals.

(Richard) After beating Tampa Bay in 7, the Habs are going to face the other top team in the Atlantic. Meanwhile, the opposition for Buffalo was mild at best. Boston was not going to be able to compete with Buffalo unless Jeremy Swayman stood on his head. Although he did well enough to bring them to six games, the Sabres’ towering defence was too much for them. Buffalo’s top two defence pairings totalled 15 points in those games. The Habs needed three things to win against Tampa Bay – excellent goaltending, secondary scoring, and their best players playing at their best. The first two were clearly better than Tampa but the top line wasn’t. That said, Nick Suzuki found a way to be effective and Lane Hutson did play his usual pivotal role.

I do think that the much less tight structure in Buffalo will give more room for the first line to feast on, but the support staff in Buffalo will be able to rival that of Montreal. It therefore becomes a battle of who will win the goaltending faceoff. Although Alex Lyon has been excellent so far, Dobes has performed at a Conn Smythe level against a much better team. This series will also be a long one, but Montreal will win in six games.

(Norm) Well, the Habs found a way to beat Tampa in Game 7, with a lot of effort and perhaps some luck from the Hockey gods and old Forum ghosts. They face a different foe this time in Buffalo. The Sabres boast two big forwards in Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch; both players lead their team with seven points from their six-game series against the Boston Bruins. On defence, Bowen Byram has six points, followed by Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power each with four. It’s on the Sabres blueline that Montreal will have a tougher challenge, since the top half of their defencemen all have offensive ability, size, and mobility. In goal, Lyon has been the team’s primary starter, with a sparkling 1.14 goals against average and a .955 save percentage. Alex bailed out teammate Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the second game of the Boston series and has not given up the net with impressive play.

As we all know well, Montreal’s top scorers in the first round were Suzuki and Hutson, both with six points. It’s interesting to note that Montreal’s depth had decent scoring, with four players (Zachary Bolduc, Cole Caufield, Alexandre Texier, Kaiden Guhle) scoring four points, and three players (Josh Anderson, Kirby Dach, Juraj Slafkovsky) scoring three points. So while their top line was not as dominant as it played in the regular season, Tampa’s two checking centres played a big part in neutralizing them at even strength most of the time. Much like Montreal’s last big playoff run in 2021, the goaltending was a huge reason for their success. Dobes outplayed the veteran Tampa netminder, with a 2.03 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.

Montreal split the four-game series with Buffalo 2-2, and both teams scored the same number of goals, 13. Coaching will be important again, since Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff is one of the longest-standing head coaches in the NHL. Hopefully, coach Martin St. Louis will not wait until Game 5 to start line switching, as he did against Tampa. I am predicting another long series that will go to the limit again, and the Habs will extend their magical playoff run to make it to the third round.

(Brian) Well, someone has to pick Buffalo, right?  I find that the Habs tend to play better against teams with structure than those that are a little more attack-oriented where things are a bit more volatile.  Tampa Bay has structure and the Sabres don’t; they had a younger roster than the Habs did for big chunks of this season.  I expect this series will feature more big momentum swings and that might actually hurt the Canadiens more than help them.

Like many, I expect the top line to be much better this round as Buffalo’s checking isn’t as tight.  But I also don’t expect the bottom six to be as impactful which offsets that somewhat.  Meanwhile, the Sabres have one of the deeper forward groups in the NHL and a big, mobile defence that will present a different set of challenges.  I also don’t see Dobes playing at this level moving forward, although Lyon won’t be either.  Montreal can definitely win this series but they’re going to show more composure defensively when times get tough.  Based on how they did in those spots this season, I’m not sure that’s going to happen.

Western Conference

Anaheim Ducks vs Vegas Golden Knights

(Submissions for this series were sent before the series started on Monday.)

Kevin Leveille predicts: Ducks in 6 games
Richard Roy predicts: Ducks in 7 games
Norm Szcyrek predicts: Ducks in 7 games
Brian La Rose predicts: Golden Knights in 6 games

(Kevin) The battle-hardened Golden Knights face the up-and-coming Ducks. That’s the same sentence I used when the Knights faced the Mammoth, but the Ducks are far better prepared for this situation. Dostal found his game late in the series and should he play up to his capabilities, he represents a huge advantage for the Ducks. The Vegas blue line is deeper, but if Jackson LaCombe continues down the path of the first round, that could mean trouble for Vegas. Up front, the Ducks present a far more physical group for the Knights’ defence when compared to the Mammoth, and Vegas could not keep Utah off the scoresheet. Perhaps this is more heart than head, but I can’t see this Vegas team keeping up with the deep, physical, and well-coached Ducks team.

(Richard) Again, the Ducks will face an older guard of the contender circle. They were able to outscore their problems in a series where goaltending and defensive play were optional. Can they do it again? This time, they are facing the Golden Knights. Albeit a relatively slow team, their defensive structure and offensive power is much more balanced. The Ducks beat Vegas on all three games this season, outscoring them 12-9, but the playoffs are another beast that Vegas has learned to tame in the past. I do think the older legs in Vegas will suffer against the young, skilled Ducks team. I’m expecting a high-scoring frenzy that could go both ways but I’ll give an edge to the Ducks in seven.

(Norm) In the first round, Vegas looked very ordinary against Utah. Given their veteran experience with six playoff-hardened players who played on their 2023 Stanley Cup-winning team, it should have been straightforward for them to defeat the Mammoth. It took them six games to defeat them and advance. Up front, Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner lead Vegas with nine and seven points, respectively. On defence, veteran Noah Hanifin leads his team with five points. In net, Carter Hart sported a 2.7 goals against average and a .898 save percentage.

Anaheim is in a similar position to Montreal. Like the Habs, they were one of the worst teams in the NHL between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. It was only after Pat Verbeek took over as GM in the middle of the 2022 season that thei rebuild began; the last two seasons have shown up with more competitive squads. They have a number of young players to form their core, and a few veterans mostly acquired by trades to bolster their youth. Their leading scorer from the first round was LaCombe with nine points, followed by forwards Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry, both with eight points. In net, Lukas Dostal played all but eleven minutes of the first round, and earned a 3.87 goals against average with a .874 save percentage in the high-scoring series against Edmonton. I am predicting a hard-fought series between these two different teams, and youth will prevail for the Ducks to fly into the third round.

(Brian) Anaheim played well in the first round but Edmonton’s goaltending killed them.  The goaltending advantage isn’t as big this time around as Hart has settled in nicely as the starter in Vegas.  The Golden Knights weren’t great in the first round but beat a Utah team that was better than a lot of people gave them credit for.  This will be a back-and-forth series but the grizzled veterans will get it done.