The Montreal Canadiens want to take home-ice advantage in their best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series with the Buffalo Sabres back to Quebec with them.
They will need a much better effort on Friday in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series to accomplish that.
Literally and figuratively, the Canadiens stumbled in a 4-2 loss Wednesday to open the series. On home ice, Buffalo took the lead less than five minutes into the contest, thanks to Lane Hutson slipping near center ice. That created a 3-on-1 advantage with Josh Doan tapping in a Zach Benson pass that went beyond backsliding defenseman Noah Dobson.
Doan and Benson also assisted nine minutes later on Ryan McLeod’s power-play goal. With five points each (two goals, three assists for both), the two forwards are among eight Buffalo skaters with at least four points and seven with two or more goals through the team’s seven playoff games.
The Sabres built a 4-1 lead midway through the second period and looked far more comfortable in Wednesday’s Game 1 than they did in their April 19 playoff opener against the Boston Bruins. That game, their first postseason appearance in 15 seasons, required four goals in a 6:46 span late in the third period to pull out an improbable victory.
Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff hailed the overall play but added there was still room for improvement.
One area where Buffalo has excelled this postseason has been in goal, with Alex Lyon taking over for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen late in the second game against Boston. In his five starts between the pipes, Lyon has allowed just seven goals. He has a 1.30 goals-against average with a .950 save percentage in the postseason.
Ruff said Lyon, who at 33 has played with five teams in his nine NHL seasons, has “caught fire.” On Wednesday, the netminder stopped 26 of 28 shots.
“He’s really wrapped his arms around the opportunity,” said Ruff, who compared Lyon to Scott Wedgewood, the Colorado goalie Ruff coached in New Jersey.
“Alex has that temperament, that never-give-up, I’m going to outwork you, I’m going to show you that I deserve to be here,” the coach added.
On the other side of the rink, Habs netminder Jakub Dobes endured his worst game of the postseason as he made just a dozen saves. Despite that, the 24-year old Czech Republic native has a .910 save percentage and a 2.28 GAA in Montreal’s eight playoff games to date.
For Montreal, Wednesday’s performance continued the team’s win-one, lose-one streak in the postseason. Nick Suzuki scored a power-play goal in the final minute of the first period to cut the deficit in half, and Kirby Dach scored his third goal with less than four minutes remaining in the second, tying him with Juraj Slafkovsky for the team goals lead in the postseason.
Montreal lost despite getting 12 more shots on goal, and, according to Natural Stat Trick, enjoying a 53-47 edge in overall shot attempts. However, the Habs’ edge in scoring chances was just 29-28, with Buffalo creating 12 high-danger chances to the Canadiens’ 11.
“Whether it’s a big win or a loss, you regroup and get ready,” said Dobson, who returned to action for Game 7 against Tampa Bay after missing three weeks due to a hand injury late in the regular season. “Our focus is on tomorrow. Get a big win tomorrow, then go back home 1-1, and that’s all that matters.”
