2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference SFs
Game 5: Montreal Canadiens (A3) @ Buffalo Sabres (A1)
Series tied 2-2
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the United States: ESPN
Streaming: Sportsnet+
Before the teams left Buffalo after Game 2, the Sabres faced an inquisition from the home media. Why was Tage Thompson unable to contribute to the offence? How could the power play continue to be so poor? Was there any way to slow down Montreal’s offence, which looked dangerous in Game 1 and exploded in Game 2.
In two games in Montreal, those questions were answered. Thompson was able to score, doing so in each of the two games (even if he benefited from healthy doses of luck in both cases), and added an assist each game to enjoy two multi-point nights. The power play was not only able to get into the offensive zone, which frustrated the players and the fans in the opening couple of games, but scored three times, the third goal being the biggest of the series so far, Zach Benson’s in the third period of Game 4 that broke a tie and stood as the winner. As to how to slow down the Canadiens, who scored six times in Game 3 after five two nights earlier, the answer might have been to put the 6’5″ Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the crease to take away more of the net than Alex Lyon was able to. Montreal set a series high of 49 shots directed to the net at five-on-five, but only one of those went in the net.
Montreal had 20 more attempts in 11 minutes of power-play time, but just one goal in that situation as well as they failed to capitalize on all the penalties the Sabres took. It seems that after scoring 11 goals in two games, they became a little too overconfident in their scoring ability, and went back to trying to make fancy plays instead of just working to score goals.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Sabres |
|---|---|---|
| 46.9% | Expected-goal share | 52.9% |
| 2.82 | Goals per game | 3.00 |
| 2.27 | Goals against per game | 2.70 |
| 19.6% | PP% | 15.0% |
| 77.8% | PK% | 83.3% |
| Alex Newhook (6) | Most goals | Alex Tuch (4) |
| Lane Hutson (8) | Most assists | Tage Thompson (7) |
| Lane Hutson (10) | Most points | Tage Thompson (11) |
Lindy Ruff expressed his frustration with the penalties the Sabres took in the opening three games, then saw his team take even more in Game 4. With his message to the players clearly not getting through, he’s turned to a different audience, publicly calling out the Canadiens for diving to draw these calls, hoping to influence the officials. Given how poorly the Habs performed on their man advantages, limiting their power-play time might be beneficial. That would allow the depth players to see more minutes and return to the four-line flow that worked well for Montreal in Games 2 and 3.
That would mean more time for Alex Newhook, who played just 14:26 on Tuesday, his lowest ice time of the playoffs with the top power-play unit getting so many minutes. Even so, he managed to extend his goal-scoring streak to three games, and now has six in the past five contests, riding the wave of scoring the series-clincher versus he Tampa Bay Lightning. No player has taken more shots in the four games played in this series so far, and he has almost doubled the next closest teammates with 12 individual scoring chances. His line with Jake Evans and Ivan Demidov has been in full control of its five-on-five minutes, yet to allow a goal to Buffalo in the series, and all factoring in on the first goal Montreal scored in Game 4.
That line will likely be a factor once again in this game as the Canadiens try to avoid their first back-to-back losses. They have responded with a win each time after dropping a game, and they also get to play Game 5 on the road, where they have four of their six wins in the playoffs. It will be a different environment in Buffalo this time around, without the demoralizing boos during power plays given the success they had in that situation in Montreal. The best thing the Habs can do for themselves is to have a quick start and get the Sabres to play catch-up, forcing them to overextend themselves the way they did in Montreal’s two wins.
