The Buffalo Sabres find themselves breathing rarefied air after advancing to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2007.
The Sabres will look to continue their good fortune on Wednesday when they play Game 1 of their semifinal series against the visiting Montreal Canadiens.
Buffalo punched its ticket to the second round after dispatching the Boston Bruins in six games. Montreal, in turn, played seven one-goal games — four of which needed to be decided in overtime — before toppling the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Rookie Jakub Dobes turned aside 28 shots in the Canadiens’ 2-1 win over the Lightning on Sunday to improve his postseason save percentage to a sparkling .923.
“He’s super confident in himself, which you love to see,” Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said of the 24-year-old Dobes. “He puts the work in every single day away from the rink and preparing himself to go into games in a proper mindset.”
The Atlantic Division rivals split their four-game season series at two wins — once each at home and once away — and 13 goals apiece. The Canadiens totaled an East-best 56 points with a 24-9-8 road record during the regular season, while the Sabres excelled at home (26-10-5).
“I think sometimes your home fans can drive you to a crazier level of play, maybe even a reckless level of play. You’re in your own building, you want to entertain sometimes,” Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff said. “But we need to get our home game in a better place. We know that we’re gonna have to win games in this building.”
Tage Thompson led the Sabres in goals (40) and points (81) during the regular season. He had three and seven, respectively, in the season series against the Canadiens.
Thompson’s five assists in the playoffs are tops on the team, while his seven points are matched by Alex Tuch for the team lead.
While those are positive numbers, a gaudy negative is 4.2. That is the Sabres’ power-play efficiency after going 1-for-24 in the first-round series.
Buffalo would be wise to keep a keen eye on both defenseman Lane Hutson (two goals, four assists) and Suzuki (one goal, five assists), who led the way with six points apiece in the first round for Montreal. Suzuki’s linemate Juraj Slafkovsky totaled three goals, though they all came during his hat trick in Game 1 versus the Lightning.
Suzuki set career-high totals in assists (72) and points (101) this season, with six and eight, respectively, being recorded against the Sabres. Cole Caufield scored four of his career-high 51 goals against Buffalo this season. He managed just one goal and four points in the Lightning series.
“It’s the same with everybody: You have to take away time and space, stay on top of them, be hard on them,” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said of slowing down the Canadiens. “… Because when they get time, it doesn’t take much for them to score a goal, they have so much skill. So, we have to play a solid defensive game in this series to be able to win, that’s for sure.”
Sabres center Sam Carrick appears closer to drawing back into the lineup after resuming practice on Tuesday. He had been sidelined since injuring his left arm during a fight with New York Islanders captain Anders Lee in Buffalo’s 4-3 win on March 31.
