The young Montreal Canadiens have yet to win two playoff games in a row, and now's as good a time as any to correct that.
So far in these playoffs, the Montreal Canadiens have been unable to win two games in a row, but if they are to get to the third round, they will have to. By losing the first game of their best-of-seven series against the Buffalo Sabres, they’ve put themselves in a situation that demands it.
After two games, each team has a win, and even though the Canadiens scored a big win in Game 2, that doesn’t mean the Sabres won’t be able to bounce back after the loss. Historically, Buffalo has a 19-22 record in Game 3 of a best-of-seven series, for a winning percentage of .463. When the game is played on the road, however, it drops to just .353 with a 6-11 record. Furthermore, when a series is tied 1-1, they have a 6-10 record with a .375 winning percentage, but they are 3-2 when the series started at home.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens have a 75-51 record in Game 3 of a best-of-seven series, and at home they are 25-21 for a .543 winning percentage. When a series is tied 1-1, the Habs have a 25-19 record for a .558 winning percentage, and that goes up to .591 when the series started on the road with a 13-9 record.
It will be interesting to see if Lindy Ruff sticks with Alex Lyon after Buffalo’s 5-1 defeat in Game 2. It was after a 4-2 defeat in which Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen gave four goals on 20 shots that Ruff opted to move forward with Lyon. On Friday, Lyon gave four goals (the fifth was in an empty net) on 27 shots. He didn’t play badly, but he could have been more aggressive on the play that led to Alex Newhook’s second goal, and he made a partial save on the first goal of the game, which he probably would like to have back. He couldn’t be blamed for the Mike Matheson goal through traffic, or for the Alexandre Carrier snipe, which went bar-down.
At the end of Game 3, in the last few minutes, Buffalo’s frustration was obvious, and both teams were using their sticks for anything but shooting pucks. There was a lot of chirping as well, and the animosity in the series went up a notch. In a Bell Centre packed to the rafters, the atmosphere promises to be electric. The Sabers will likely get some reinforcements, as Ruff indicated that Sam Carrick is now available. Buffalo will be looking for better performances from Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, and Peyton Krebs, while Montreal is still waiting for Cole Caufield to find the back of the net at even strength.
This will be the fourth home game of these playoffs for the Canadiens, and one can wonder who will carry the torch tonight in the opening montage. Yvan Cournoyer did it first, Serge Savard did the honours for the second game, and Chris Nilan was on hand for the third one. Given that it’s mothers’ day, could Elise Beliveau be the torchbearer tonight? She would be a worthy representative of her husband, Jean Beliveau, who won 10 Stanley Cups as a player and seven more as an executive. It would be a nice touch.
The game is set to kick off at 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on CBC, TVAS, SN, and ESPN. Garrett Rank and Kyle Rehman are set to officiate, while Devin Berg and Ryan Daisy will be the linemen. In the first round, the Canadiens won Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Will history repeat itself tonight? Time will tell…
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