The Buffalo Sabres will return home for Game 5 of their second-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens at KeyBank Center on May 14. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
After securing a narrow 3-2 win on the road in Game 4, the Sabres have tied the series at two games each, setting up a best-of-three finish. The team overcame six penalties, a lengthy goal review that overturned a score, and blocked a season-high number of shots to secure victory.
Josh Doan said, “It’s going to be a tight couple games here. I think we’ve seen a lot of offense through the first four games here, but I’m sure both teams are going to want to slow that down.” Home-ice advantage returns to Buffalo for Games 5 and potentially Game 7 if needed. Doan added about playing in Montreal: “You realize how important home-ice advantage can be. And we can’t be throwing games away at home.”
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected to start as goaltender after his strong performance in Game 4 with 29 saves. The lineup is expected to remain largely unchanged, including forward Konsta Helenius and defenseman Luke Schenn. Conor Timmins is also available despite missing morning skate for maintenance reasons.
Jack Quinn commented on recent power-play success: “I think we’ve just found something that’s clicked a little bit. We’ve won some faceoffs, played in the zone a little more. You see teams for a full series and kind of start to get an idea of what you want to do. We’ve been able to execute a few times.” Peyton Krebs spoke about Schenn’s role: “Older guy comes in into a younger group; I’m sure he wasn’t sure what to expect. He’s done a great job of just fitting right in, giving us tidbits here and there … And just being a great guy off the ice when he wasn’t playing… before the game, adds his piece and gets the guys motivated.”
Head coach Lindy Ruff outlined key strategies: “For me, it’s, are you racing for support? And a lot of times, that creates openings in the game… It might be in space, it might be tape to tape…”
Doan leads Buffalo with six points this series and has recorded assists in five straight playoff games—one shy of tying Alexei Zhitnik’s franchise record from 1999.
The Canadiens have shown resilience throughout these playoffs by not losing consecutive games so far and drawing numerous penalties from opponents—20 power plays over four matches against Buffalo alone.
Ruff said regarding Montreal’s play style: “If they have a chance to make the play look worse than it is, they’re going to… It’s playoff hockey. Every team in this league does it.”
