Michael Augello and Ryan O’Hara are live on the thread to bring you every detail from tonight’s opening game of the Second Round Stanley Cup Playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres. THE FANS ARE PUMPED Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/0e306a6d-3f1e-484f-9ccb-b5bf2aab7d34.jpeg] Until this season, the Sabres had not reached the playoffs since 2010–11, when Ryan Miller was still their starting goaltender—the year after Team USA fell to Sidney Crosby and Team Canada in overtime of the Olympic gold medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. With that said, there’s every reason for Sabres fans to be excited — and, in this case, to have the celebratory balloons ready. But by no means will this be an easy series. The Canadiens proved in their opening-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning that they can win even while generating limited offense, though they will likely need to produce more shots on goal if they hope to reach the Eastern Conference Final. OPENING PERIOD That may have been one of the quickest penalties to start a playoff game in recent memory. Lane Hutson was called for tripping Zach Benson just 10 seconds into the game. It marked the ninth minor penalty Benson has drawn this postseason. We’ve returned to 5-on-5 action after Buffalo failed to convert on the power play, though the Sabres generated several quality opportunities. There was also a brief stoppage after Josh Doan fired a wrister from the doorstep that knocked Montreal goaltender Jakob Dobes’ mask clean off. GOAL Hutson endured an unfortunate start for the Canadiens. First came the penalty, then he rang a shot off the crossbar after his wrister deflected off Alex Lyon’s pad. Things got worse when he tripped and fell at center ice, leading to an odd-man rush for the Sabres. Josh Doan capitalized on the chance to give Buffalo an early lead. Buffalo is doing a fantastic job, especially Logan Stanley, at clogging up lanes in front of the net. Montreal will have to get creative if they want to get some quality shots on net. INJURY? The aforementioned Stanley went down the tunnel after blocking a shot earlier in the period and the Canadiens are struggling to remain disciplined as their captain, Nick Suzuki, has gone to the box for tripping Bowen Byram. POWER PLAY GOAL SABRES 2 CANADIENS 0 Ryan McLeod scored his first goal of the playoffs at 13:26, with Doan once again showing his playmaking ability by finding him in the slot to make it a 2–0 game. Montreal is getting overwhelmed by the relentless pressure. PENALTY KILL Buffalo will have to kill off a penalty in the final 2:02 of the frame as Rasmus Dahlin was called for interference after sending Alex Newhook into the crossbar. Montreal will get an opportunity on the power play, but their star forward, Cole Caufield took a big hit from Jordan Greenway and was slow to get up. But Montreal responded with a power play goal and it was Suzuki, their captain making up for his earlier penalty to put the Canadiens on the board. The Sabres took a 2–1 lead into the dressing room at the end of the first period. TAKEAWAYS Montreal outshot Buffalo 10–6 in the opening frame, but the Sabres did a better job controlling the puck and generated the more dangerous scoring chances. The Canadiens struggled to stay out of the penalty box, and Hutson’s costly mistake at center ice led directly to Buffalo’s 2-on-1 opportunity. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will likely win this game. SECOND PERIOD We’re underway in Period 2. Jordan Greenway made it a 3–1 game with his first goal of the postseason, restoring Buffalo’s two-goal advantage. The tally came moments after the Canadiens likely should have been penalized for too many men on the ice, but no call was made. It didn’t matter, as Greenway snapped a wrister through traffic that caught the edge of Dobes’ glove. Following the goal, Dobes had now allowed three goals on nine shots. Greenway added the insurance marker despite managing just one goal in 40 regular-season games. Buffalo earned its third power play of the game just past the seven-minute mark after Kaiden Guhle was called for cross-checking Tyson Kozak. ANOTHER POWER-PLAY STRIKE This Buffalo team is dangerous. A second power-play goal pushed the Sabres’ lead to three. Josh Doan provided a beautiful screen in front, and Bo Byram — who scored three goals in Buffalo’s first-round series win over the Boston Bruins — ripped a scintillating shot through traffic to make it 4–1. At this point, Buffalo was making Montreal pay for every mistake. MONTREAL FIGHTS BACK The Canadiens weren’t done yet. With 3:29 remaining in the second period, Kirby Dach batted in his own rebound while falling to the ice, capping off a beautiful individual effort to pull Montreal within two. The Sabres took a 4–2 lead into the third and likely final period. THIRD PERIOD The Sabres grabbed the lead four-and-a-half minutes into the game and never gave it back. The final period was far more subdued compared to the opening two, but Buffalo wasn’t complaining. Four goals on 16 shots had them comfortably ahead with 2:50 remaining in regulation — but there was still some late drama. Rasmus Dahlin headed down the tunnel and appeared to be limping, raising concern on the Buffalo bench after blocking a shot, but later returned. Montreal then pulled Dobes with 2:50 to play, and about 1:20 later, Lyon took a shot off the mask just before Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis called a timeout. But time ultimately ran out, and the Sabres skated away with a 4–2 victory.
