After losing the first game of their second-round series against the Buffalo Sabres 4-2, the Montreal Canadiens need to bounce back and do what they did in the first round: find a way to win on the road. Given Lindy Ruff’s coaching style, it should be less of a challenge than it was against the Tampa Bay Lightning when Jon Cooper was hell-bent on keeping Anthony Cirelli stuck to Nick Suzuki.
Martin St-Louis didn’t seem worried at all when he spoke to the media on Thursday. The coach said he was at the helm of a confident group that has a short-term memory and knows how to move on from a loss. They always bounced back from a defeat against Tampa, and that served them well, but they’ve put themselves in a situation where alternating wins and losses won’t work by losing the first game of the series.
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On Thursday, even though the Habs had an optional skate, Cole Caufield spent over an hour on the ice, working on his shot. The sniper knows his team is counting on him, and it’s obvious that he’s desperate to find the back of the net.
If the Sabres had an impeccable record historically in the first game of a series, it’s not the case for the second game. Buffalo is 12-29 in Game 2 over the years for a .293 win percentage, although they are 7-10 (.412) when the game is played at home. However, their record is much better when they lead 1-0 in the series; they’re 15-11 overall (.577) and 9-3 (.750) when the series started at home.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens have done well historically in the second game of a series with an 82-44 record for a .651 winning percentage. When the game is played on the road, they are 24-23 (.511). However, those numbers plummet when they are trailing 1-0; overall, they have a 17-33 (.340) record, and it’s even lower on the road, where they are 9-23 (.281).
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Caufield is not the only player who will be looking to bounce back in this second game. Lane Hutson, who had his worst game of the playoffs on Wednesday, will be looking for redemption in Game 2. As for the defense corps, it will have to do a better job in front of Jakub Dobes so he can see shots coming. It will be interesting to see if St-Louis decides to make any changes to his lineup. The Canadiens looked like they were getting used to the Sabres’ style of play in the third period when they dominated 11-1 in shots, but they were unable to score on Alex Lyon.
To get a better result, they’ll have to take the Sabres’ goalie’s line of sight away by putting bodies in front of the net. Of course, that’s easier said than done with Buffalo having such a big-bodied blue line that will work hard to clear the front of the net, but if the Habs battle hard enough, those big bodies will also get in Lyon’s line of sight.
Despite having good advanced stats numbers, the second line didn’t find the scoresheet, and Montreal desperately needs some offense from its top six. Ivan Demidov and Alex Newhook could do with a more offensive center on their line. Jake Evans is a good player, but he lacks a finishing touch. If the Canadiens manage to get the win tonight, they’ll come back to Montreal having won home-ice advantage, but that’s not an easy task.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on HBO MAX, TNT, SN, TVAS, and CBC. Jean Hebert and Trevor Hanson are set to officiate, while Ryan Daisy and Shandor Alphonso will be the linemen. After the game, the Canadiens will finally head back to Montreal and get ready for Game 3, which is scheduled at 7:00 PM on Sunday night.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
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