The Buffalo Sabres lost to the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 at KeyBank Center on May 15, leaving them trailing the playoff series 3-2 and facing elimination as they head back to Montreal for Game 6 on Saturday.
The outcome puts pressure on the Sabres, who must win their next game to keep their season alive. Despite an early surge that saw Buffalo score three goals on four shots, Montreal took control as the game progressed.
“They took over in the second, and we didn’t have an answer,” said captain Rasmus Dahlin. “We’ve got to regroup and focus on the next one.” Jason Zucker opened scoring for Buffalo with his first goal of the playoffs before Cole Caufield tied it for Montreal. Josh Doan put Buffalo ahead again briefly until Alexandre Texier equalized nine seconds later. Konsta Helenius then gave Buffalo a short-lived lead with his first career playoff goal.
Alex Tuch addressed defensive lapses after the game: “We wish were up 3-0 instead of 3-2. We definitely could have prevented those couple goals,” he said. “But they’re a good team, so they’re going to score. So, we have to make sure we’re getting back to our game, especially defensively, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
A turning point came early in the second period when Zach Benson created scoring chances but Tage Thompson missed a breakaway opportunity. Shortly after, Lane Hutson set up Josh Anderson for a tying goal that shifted momentum toward Montreal. The Canadiens then pulled ahead with goals from Jake Evans and Nick Suzuki.
Coach Lindy Ruff analyzed: “I thought they had a pretty good push there for seven or eight minutes where we didn’t execute as well as we needed to execute. I thought some of our puck play, we were missing passes…then the second period, we just slowed it down.” Goaltender Alex Lyon replaced Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at the start of the third period after Luukkonen allowed five goals on twenty-three shots.
Ruff commented further about goaltending decisions: “I think that’s one that he would want back. So, if I would’ve made a decision (earlier), would it have made a difference? Possibly,” Ruff said. “But all year, we haven’t made it about our goaltender, and we’re not gonna make it about our goaltender now.”
Dahlin called home performance issues “unacceptable” as Buffalo has gone just one-for-three at KeyBank Center this postseason but noted strong road play gives hope heading into Game 6: “If our road play is what we need to carry us through this,” Ruff said,”then we go to Montreal and we win a game…we’re gonna pretend we’re on the road.”
