Following up a game one in which they couldn’t get much going, the Montreal Canadiens were back in Buffalo Sabres’ territory looking to earn a split of their road games before taking the series back to the Bell Centre. This time, they got going early and didn’t look back, earning their highest margin of victory in these playoffs with a 5-1 win. While their top line played much better than they had in the first game, it was once again their depth players who did most of the damage in the win.
None did more damage than Alex Newhook, who potted a pair of huge goals to build their lead.
Jake Evans with a perfect pass to Newhook driving the back post, and it's 3-0 #Habs pic.twitter.com/7WcHGyMDFG
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) May 9, 2026
This was perhaps his best game of the playoffs so far, even when counting his series-winner against the Lightning. Newhook did nothing but score big goals in big moments against Tampa, and while this multi-goal effort didn’t end the series, it signaled that he could have a very big impact on the end result. These games have been a lot more open than the series against Tampa, so his speed could become a big difference maker when it comes to converting the increased volume of odd-man rush chances the Habs are seeing.
His line with Jake Evans and Ivan Demidov was excellent at even-strength all night, controlling over 60% of shot attempts, 100% of scoring chances, and 100% of high-danger chances. Newhook played the role of finisher quite well, but the overall quality of that line was evident. The defensive prowess of Evans allowed them to take advantage of an aggressive Buffalo forecheck, as we saw on the second Newhook goal.
Goals from Alexandre Carrier and Mike Matheson rounded out a night where the Habs won another game thanks to their depth. This has been the story of the playoffs so far for the Tricolore, as they’ve relied on unusual suspects to come up with production in order to win many of their games. For a long time, this club has been looked at as a one-line team, and they’ve been consistently proving that isn’t the case.
All this being said, it is important to remember how well the top line actually played. Depth won the night for them, but it felt like Nick Suzuki’s trio was getting close to a significant breakout in that game at five-on-five. What that could mean with the team about to own home-ice advantage for the next two games is extremely intriguing, because if they can start converting a little more with quality depth behind them, maybe they can control things in their own building to a degree they couldn’t against Tampa.
They accomplished their mission of neutralizing home-ice advantage in this series, now they’ll have a chance to prove that they can put their foot on the gas in their own barn.
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