2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference SFs
Game 2: Montreal Canadiens (A3) @ Buffalo Sabres (A1)
BUF leads 1-0
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the United States: TNT, truTV
Streaming: Sportsnet+
Lane Hutson wasn’t happy with his play in Game 1 after featuring in all of the Buffalo Sabres’ first-period highlights. “I feel like everyone came ready to play, except me,” he said after the game feeling responsible for the loss. The truth is it was just a sequence of the worst luck a player could have, which also included a penalty call seconds into the game as he was trying to play the puck on defence and another case of a shot that squeaked through the opposing goalie only to hit the frame of the net.
An opening period full of misfortune had the Canadiens trailing the game despite playing well enough to have a multi-goal lead. That’s something you just have to accept, knowing that it’s probably not going to happen again. One thing that the Canadiens will need to address, however, is how they handle the different type of offensive game the Sabres play with. In the first series, it was mostly enough to defend against shots from the blue and cross-ice passing routes down low. Buffalo, however, was using a cycle high in the zone that was confusing the forwards who had spent seven games just keeping tabs on a high defenceman, and coverages were getting scrambled. The Lightning had to run picks plays to get the puck from up high to the front of the net, but the Sabres were causing Montreal’s forwards to lose their check, and that’s what opened up space in the offensive zone and led to long shifts, especially in the second period.
Some adjustments from the coaching staff will be needed, but the players also have the experience of the opening game versus a new opponent to help them for Game 2. Everyone should be better just by having a better idea of what to expect, now with the added incentive of needing to even the series.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Sabres |
|---|---|---|
| 46.0% | Expected-goal share | 53.7% |
| 2.25 | Goals per game | 3.43 |
| 2.38 | Goals against per game | 2.00 |
| 21.4% | PP% | 11.1% |
| 78.1% | PK% | 83.3% |
| Kirby Dach (3) | Most goals | Alex Tuch (4) |
| Nick Suzuki (5) | Most assists | Tage Thompson (5) |
| Nick Suzuki (7) | Most points | Alex Tuch (7) |
The Sabres’ four goals were the most Jakub Dobeš has allowed in the post-season. A couple of screens in front of him didn’t help, but he also wasn’t used to players getting open to complete cross-crease passes the way Buffalo did as that avenue was usually closed to the Lightning. He wasn’t able to just stay square to a shooter who had a shot as the only play, but had to lunge laterally on several occasions trying to deal with quality chances.
The most dangerous Sabres player of all was Zach Benson, and it seems like EOTP’s 2023 mock draft selection is going to be this series’ version of Brandon Hagel. Montreal’s top trio did a good job of winning the matchup with Buffalo’s top line of Peyton Krebs, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch, but Benson set up the two first-period goals the Sabres scored, joining Josh Doan and Ryan McLeod as multi-point players in the opening contest. Benson now has five points in the post-season, and they’ve all come in the last four games as he seems to be finding his footing in his first NHL playoff experience.
Changes may not be limited to just tactics for this game. Arber Xhekaj looked good in his minutes so there’s no reason to alter anything on defence, but there could be some movement at forward. Martin St-Louis initially put Joe Veleno in perhaps believing his speed would help versus the Sabres’ offensive-zone play. However, now that the Canadiens have played a game and realized that the Sabres’ zone is much more open than the Lightning’s, the chance is there to slot Oliver Kapanen and his shot back into the lineup to try to take advantage of the extra space available. Kapanen is the best finisher of the options that have rotated in in this post-season, and he and Ivan Demidov could find their chemistry once more to get offence from a new source.
One extra goal to allow the Canadiens to work with a lead, or even tied, instead of trailing for the entire night as they did in Game 1 would significantly change the way the game is played. As young as they are, the Sabres were a strong defensive team all season and through their series with the Boston Bruins, and we saw in the third period how they lock things down when they get ahead. Even then, Montreal managed eight scoring chances in a third period largely spent in the offensive zone, so there is still a good chance for the Canadiens to even this series up before heading home for Game 3.
