Ivan Demidov scored his first playoff goal, and Cole Caufield scored a goal for the third straight game. While those will grab the headlines for the Canadiens, the depth this team has might be the biggest story from Game 5.
The Canadiens would score six goals against the Buffalo Sabres in Game 5 and cruise to a 6-3 win on Thursday night. It is not an easy task to score six goals in a playoff game, but what was even more impressive was the fact that they had six different players score in this game.
According to the NHL, this is only the third time in franchise history that the Canadiens have had six players score a goal in a playoff game. It is also the first time since 1993, when the Canadiens would win 6-4 over the Quebec Nordiques in a series-clinching Game 6.
It is notable that the last time the Canadiens accomplished this was also the last time they won the Stanley Cup when they beat the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Final.
Montreal Canadiens have had no problems with secondary scoring in these playoffs
One of the reasons the Canadiens were not able to get past the first round of last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs was the lack of scoring depth. That has been an issue this year, though, as the Canadiens have gotten some big performances from unlikely players.
Through 12 games, the Canadiens have 37 goals, and while the trio of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky have 12 of them, none are leading the team in the category. That honor currently belongs to Alex Newhook, with six in the playoffs after having only 12 goals in 42 regular-season games. Kirby Dach has four in the playoffs after only eight in 37 regular season games.
Alexandre Texier and Josh Anderson each have three while Zachary Bolduc has scored twice so far.
Last season, the trio of Caufield, Suzuki, and Slafkovsky accounted for 58% of the Canadiens' playoff goals. This season, that percentage is only 32%, which has helped alleviate some of the pressure on their top forwards as other players step up in scoring.
A decline in production from a team's stars could be disastrous, but that hasn't been the case for the Canadiens thanks to their depth. The historic performance in Game 5 now has Montreal in a position with one more win to advance to play the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals
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