The Buffalo Sabres arrive in Montreal on Tuesday night with last spring’s wound still wide open.
These two clubs went at it in a second-round playoff series that went the distance, and it ended with the Canadiens celebrating after Alex Newhook scored in overtime of Game 7. Buffalo had the edge in shots that night, 39-25, and still walked away on the wrong side of the result. Now the Sabres get the first chance to answer back at the Bell Centre before the Canadiens head to Washington.
The matchup hasn’t exactly separated these teams much beyond that. In the regular season, they split four meetings and each side won once at home and once on the road, with both clubs scoring 13 goals.
Even in a season that hasn’t started cleanly for either team, Buffalo’s offseason was far busier than Montreal’s. The Sabres moved on from Alex Tuch, Bowen Byram, Jordan Greenway, Logan Stanley, and Luke Schenn, among others, and brought in Louis Crevier, Olen Zellweger and Dennis Gilbert.
Through six games, Buffalo sits at 3-3-0 with 16 goals scored, good for sixth in the Atlantic Division after leapfrogging the Canadiens with a win over the Florida Panthers on Monday. Montreal enters at 2-2-1 with five points, 23rd in the league, and 15 goals on the season.
Both teams are dealing with shaky goaltending early. Alex Lyon has not made his season debut for Buffalo and remains day-to-day.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has one win, a 4.02 goals-against average, and a .782 save percentage, while Colten Ellis also has one win with a 2.91 GAA and an .880 SV. For Montreal, Jakub Dobes has one win, a 4.43 GAA and a .856 SV, while recently recalled Jacob Fowler is 1-1-0 with a 1.46 GAA and a .938 SV.
That gives Martin St-Louis a decision to make in goal, and he wasn’t saying Monday which way he’d go for the front end of the back-to-back. He also wouldn’t tip his hand on whether he’ll stick with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Fowler’s case is obvious enough after he was perfect against the Detroit Red Wings, holding steady through regulation, overtime and the shootout. Dobes, though, has been strong in his own way against Buffalo, going 3-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .937 SV in regular-season play.
The Canadiens also spent Monday’s practice trying to clean up their power play, which has been stuck in the mud with one goal in 17 chances for a 5.9% success rate. That number ranks 31st in the league, the same spot occupied by Buffalo’s man-advantage. Florian Xhekaj was back on the ice briefly before leaving after a few minutes, still bothered by a minor ailment.
Up front, Montreal will lean on the players who have had success against Buffalo before. Captain Nick Suzuki has 26 points in 21 games against the Sabres, the same total as Chris Kreider, though Kreider needed 40 games to get there. Cole Caufield sits third with 16 points in 18 games.
For Buffalo, Tage Thompson leads the way with 23 points in 20 games against Montreal. Rasmus Dahlin has 21 points in 24 games, but he was hurt in Sunday’s game and did not travel to Montreal. Jack Quinn is third on the Sabres’ list with six points in 12 games.
The puck drops at 6:30 p.m. and the game will be shown in French on RDS 2 and in English on TSN 2. It’s the first of four meetings between the teams this season.
Montreal has won six of its last 10 against Buffalo and will look to keep that trend rolling. Jake Brenk and Pierre Lambert are the officials, with Ryan Daisy and Tommy Hughes working the lines.
In Other News...
Canadiens Found An Encouraging Response In Their First Game Without Suzuki
The Canadiens opened their four-game road trip with a 4-1 win over the Blackhawks at the United Center, and the response was exactly the sort of one they needed after losing captain Nick Suzuki to injury. Montreal did not just get by without its top center, it found a useful spark from the bottom of the lineup, where Jake Evans stepped into a bigger role and helped steady the group in a game that could have gone sideways.
Lane Hutson also found himself in a new kind of spotlight, taking on ironman status for Montreal after Suzuki's long streak came to an end. The bigger-picture concern is obvious enough, because the Canadiens will have to keep answering questions about life without their captain while navigating the rest of the trip, and the early signs from this one were encouraging even if the lineup picture is still unsettled. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Face A Tough Zach Whitecloud Decision On Blue-Line Help
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For the Canadiens, the real question is whether the upgrade is worth paying up for when other defensive options remain in play. Montreal has been linked to additional targets as well, which gives the front office some room to compare fit, cost and urgency while Calgary shows no sign of moving Whitecloud at a discount. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Prospect Is Suddenly Looking Like A Real Draft Steal
Brayden Klimpkes rise with the Saskatoon Blades is starting to make Montreals long-term hold on his rights look a lot more intriguing. The 19-year-old Canadiens prospect has piled up 15 points in 10 WHL games, a sharp burst for a player who has become the Blades captain and now looks much more comfortable driving play from the back end after a major physical growth spurt.
At 6 feet, Klimpke has clearly changed the look of his game as much as his frame, and his next step only adds to the interest around him. He is committed to the University of North Dakota, while Montreal will keep his NHL rights through 2031, giving the Canadiens plenty of time to see whether this early offensive jump is the start of something bigger. [Read more 🡒]