The Buffalo Sabres find themselves trailing in a playoff series for the first time this postseason after surrendering five unanswered goals in a 6-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Sunday night.
With the defeat, Buffalo’s previously unblemished road playoff record comes to an end, and Montreal takes a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Sabres will have a day to regroup before attempting to even the series in Game 4 on Tuesday.
Here is a breakdown of what went wrong for Buffalo in Game 3.
A Fast Start Fades Quickly
Buffalo initially silenced the raucous Montreal crowd when Tage Thompson found the back of the net just 53 seconds into the opening period. Given Thompson’s struggles in Game 2, the early strike off a feed from Rasmus Dahlin seemed to signal a bounce-back performance for the Sabres’ top line.
However, Buffalo failed to capitalize on the early momentum. Instead of dictating the pace, the Sabres allowed the Canadiens to control the neutral zone and generate high-speed transitional attacks. Montreal withstood the initial push and eventually leveled the score late in the first period when Alex Newhook buried a rebound.
The middle period was an unmitigated disaster for Buffalo. The Canadiens exposed loose defensive coverage and outskated the Sabres, exploding for three goals to break the game wide open. For the second consecutive matchup, Buffalo found itself severely outplayed in the middle portion of the game.
Special Teams Disparity
The defining storyline of this series continues to be the massive gap in special teams execution. Montreal’s power play operated with lethal efficiency on Sunday, connecting for two crucial second-period goals from Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky.
The Canadiens’ top power-play unit features five legitimate finishing threats, making them nearly impossible to defend when they set up in the offensive zone. Rather than playing disciplined hockey to mitigate that threat, the Sabres paraded to the penalty box. Careless infractions from Dahlin, Beck Malenstyn, and Alex Tuch repeatedly fed Montreal’s potent man-advantage unit.
While Buffalo finally broke through on their own power play late in the second period courtesy of a brilliant Dahlin tally, the underlying metrics heavily favored Montreal. The Canadiens generated an overwhelming number of high-danger scoring chances on their power play compared to Buffalo’s minimal opportunities.
Crease Concerns and Lingering Injuries
In the Montreal net, rookie Jakub Dobes was spectacular. He turned aside 26 shots and appeared completely unflappable despite Buffalo’s efforts to crowd his crease. He made several highlight-reel stops in the third period, including a point-blank denial on Alex Tuch to preserve a two-goal lead and draw heavy praise from the home crowd.
On the other end of the ice, Alex Lyon faced a barrage of odd-man rushes and wide-open looks. Lyon made 31 saves, keeping Buffalo in the game during a heavy Montreal push in the opening ten minutes, but ultimately surrendered five goals. Given that he has allowed nine goals over his last two starts, head coach Lindy Ruff faces a difficult decision regarding his starting goaltender for Game 4.
Up front, the Sabres might also be dealing with a significant injury concern. Forward Jason Zucker logged fewer than four minutes of ice time through the first two periods. Zucker, a vital energy player and secondary scorer, suffered an injury during the Boston series and his heavily managed workload suggests he is far from fully healthy. If he cannot take on his normal responsibilities, a lineup adjustment will be necessary.
Looking Ahead to Game 4
The Sabres must quickly find a way to stay out of the penalty box and tighten up their defensive zone structure if they want to reclaim home-ice advantage.
Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:00 P.M. EDT at the Bell Centre. The national broadcast will air on ESPN, while Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will provide the radio call on WGR 550. Local pregame coverage begins at 6:30 P.M. on MSG.
Be sure to follow @TheSabresHub for continuous updates, lineup news, and daily betting insights as Buffalo prepares for the most critical game of their season so far.
The Hub Rules
Be a good teammate — let’s keep the conversation Blue & Gold.