The Montreal Canadiens had a chance to move on to the Eastern Conference with a win on Saturday night. They looked like they were on their way to doing just that as they jumped out to a 3-1 lead after Jake Evans scored a shorthanded goal midway through the first period.
The Sabres were reeling and even made a goalie change from Alex Lyon to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. However, from that point it was all Sabres as they would score seven straight goals to win 8-3 and force a Game 7.
While the negative usually outweighs the positive in losses, there was still some performances worth highlighting for the Canadiens and these are the winners and losers from Game 6.
Loser: Jakub Dobes
The Montreal Canadiens' goalie has been excellent in these playoffs and has not played like a rookie at all. In the first series against the Lightning, he was able to match the performance of one of the best at the position in Andrei Vasilevskiy, but he has also showed resilence with the way he bounced back after losses.
In Game 6, it just wasn't Dobes' night as he would stop only 27 of 33 shots and allowed six goals, the most in his playoff career. He would be replaced by Jacob Fowler in the third period, and while no goalie wants to be pulled, it was the right call by Martin St. Louis in hopes of giving him a little extra rest before Game 7.
One of the reasons the Canadiens have reached this point is the play of Dobes, but the grueling nature of the playoffs might be taking its toll on the young goalie. He has started every game in these playoffs and essentially played every other night for about a month now.
Dobes has done a good job bouncing back after a loss and the Canadiens will need another one of those performances on Monday night.
Winner: Ivan Demidov
It might be tough to name winners in such an ugly loss, but it wasn't all bad for the Montreal Canadiens. One of the players who stands out is forward Ivan Demidov, who would score a goal for the second straight game.
Demidov once again made his presence known on the power play as he would score in the first period and gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead in Game 6. The Calder Trophy runner-up had been painfully close to scoring most of the playoffs and finally broke through with a goal in Game 5.
The fact that he was able to follow it up with another goal on Saturday night is a great sign that he might be heating up at the perfect time.
Loser: Mike Matheson
One player who is absolutely going to want to forget this game is defenseman Mike Matheson, but as a key part of the penalty kill, he has to be a driving force in finding answers on how to fix it. In Game 6, Matheson was on the ice for six of the eight goals the Sabres scored, including three of their power play goals.
The best way for the Canadiens to ensure the Sabres don't score power play goals is to not be called for penalties. In Game 6, they allowed six power play chances, and that was the second-most in a playoff game this season. The Canadiens need to avoid penalties in Game 7, but when they do have a player go to the penalty box, they need to be better on the kill, and that starts with Mike Matheson.
Loser: Phillip Danault
Phillip Danault has been one of those under-the-radar type players who do the little things to help a team be successful. One of those things has been his play in the faceoff circle, but on Saturday night, he looked like a completely different player who was unable to win a faceoff.
In the first five games of this series, Danualt had a faceoff win percentage of 66%, but in Game 6, he won only three of 14 faceoffs for a win percentage of just 21%. Similar to Dobes, Danault has been consistently good in the playoffs in this area, so hopefully it is only a one-game concern because they will need Danault to bounce back in Game 7.
As much as the Canadiens wanted to win the series in front of their fans at the Bell Centre, the series isn't lost. However, they are going to need a better game on Monday night, or they could see their season come to an end.
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