The Montreal Canadiens dominated Game 2 of their series against the Buffalo Sabres from start to finish, but there’s one area in which the host dominated: hits. Someone who didn’t watch the game and checked the stats to see the Sabres had 44 hits to the Canadiens’ 18 would be forgiven for thinking that the Habs had a rough night physically, but that wasn’t the case.
The main reason Buffalo had so many hits is that they spent much of the game chasing the puck. For the first 40 minutes, the Canadiens dominated puck possession, forcing the Sabres to try to separate them from the puck. Of course, 44 hits are an impressive total, but the timing of the hits left a lot to be desired. Juraj Slafkovsky explained it well after the game:
I feel like all of their hits happen after the plays. Especially me, I mean, I made a play, and then, three seconds after, I got hit. That doesn’t do anything to me, in my opinion. But yeah, everyone was just making plays, and sometimes, you’ve got to take a hit to make a play.
– Slafkovsky on the Sabres’ hits
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The most compelling example of Slafkovsky’s assessment came on the Canadiens’ third goal. Noah Dobson took a punishing hit after sending the puck up the board to Jake Evans. Sabres fans were still applauding the hit when Evans sent a picture-perfect pass to Alex Newhook to give the Canadiens a 3-1 lead. Feeling a bit of physical discomfort is nothing compared to the pain of giving away a goal in the playoffs. A hit for a goal is a trade-off the Canadiens will always be fine with.
The one exception on the night came when Ivan Demidov was sent flying by a Jordan Greenway hit and landed awkwardly on the ice. The Russian rookie needed a few seconds to get back up and then headed straight to the room. It was a worrying moment, but he was back in the game a few minutes later and looked no worse for wear, unleashing a few one-timers on the next power play.
It will be interesting to see if the Sabres put such an emphasis on physical play in Game 3. Last night, it looked like they had been instructed to finish all their checks, no matter what, even if that took them out of the play. A bit like when Arber Xhekaj used to chase hits at all costs despite what else was happening on the ice. Something the rugged defenseman has now eliminated from his play, most of the time at least.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
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