The Montreal Canadiens are in the midst of a "road warrior series" against the Buffalo Sabres, especially recent games. In Game 5, the Canadiens defeated the Sabres 6-3 to take a 3-2 series lead over, pushing them one win away from clinching their first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2021. In Game 6, in front of a raucous crowd at the Bell Centre, the Canadiens lost 8-3 to the Sabres after blowing a 3-1 lead in the first period.
Now, the Canadiens head back to Buffalo to try and clinch their series victory over the Sabres. The Canadiens have already won a Game 7 in these playoffs. Now, they are looking to use this experience to their advantage.
“We can for sure lean on (that),” said Nick Suzuki, h/t The Canadian Press. “We’re a team that is really resilient. We’ve been in this situation already in the first round, so we have experience, and we just got to win one game.”
Canadiens looking to use Game 7 experience against Lightning when facing Sabres Monday
The playoffs have been far from easy for the Canadiens. Not only were they pushed to the full seven games against the Sabres, but they also did so against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round.
In Game 7, the Canadiens defeated the Lightning 2-1 to advance. To make things that much more impressive, they picked up the victory with just nine shots on goal and with a 28-save showing from goalie Jakub Dobes. Look, if you can win a game with fewer than 10 shots on goal, take that victory lap. But rarely does that ever work.
Luckily for the Canadiens, their offense has been more explosive in the second round, averaging 4.0 goals per game, as opposed to their 2.29 average against the Lightning. It especially helps that their young stars in Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Ivan Demidov all have six points each in this series. Plus, versatile player Alex Newhook has a team-high five goals.
With the offense waking up, it puts more pressure on Buffalo's goaltending situation. The team has switched between Alex Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen multiple times in this series. If the Canadiens rattle the Sabres early in Game 7, one has to wonder if Lindy Ruff will once again make a switch. It worked in Game 6, granted it was a bad overall game for the Canadiens.
It's all or nothing for Montreal on Monday night. Will the Canadiens' resilience pay off for them once again? We'll see what happens. either way, both teams will have a tough opponent waiting for them in the third round in the Carolina Hurricanes.
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