- Canadiens beat Sabres 6-3 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead
- Suzuki and Slafkovsky each had three points, Dobes stopped 32 of 35
- Read below for the goal-by-goal breakdown and Saturday’s Game 6 setup at the Bell Centre
The Canadiens are one win from the Eastern Conference Final.
Montreal trailed three different times in the first period and still left KeyBank Center with a 6-3 win Thursday night, grabbing a 3-2 series lead and pushing Buffalo to the brink. Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky each finished with three points, and the Habs scored three unanswered in the second period to flip the game.
Buffalo led 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 inside the first 11 minutes. Jason Zucker opened the scoring on a deflection, Josh Doan extended his point streak to six games, and Konsta Helenius added his first career playoff goal off a Mattias Samuelsson feed. Cole Caufield and Alexandre Texier answered each Sabres push in the opening frame.
Then Montreal flipped it. Josh Anderson tied things 3-3 in the second on a Lane Hutson feed, Jake Evans buried his first goal in 19 games to put the Habs ahead, and Suzuki cashed in on the power play to make it 5-3 before the buzzer.
Suzuki has been Montreal’s engine all series, and the power play (2-for-2 on the night after going 1-for-7 in Game 4) finally clicked when the game was on the wire. The captain wired home the go-ahead power-play goal off helpers from Slafkovsky and Hutson:
Ivan Demidov added the dagger in the third with his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal, another power-play strike set up by Slafkovsky and Suzuki. The rookie’s celebration was every bit as fun as the goal:
Jakub Dobes was the difference once the Habs took the lead. His breakaway stop on Tage Thompson with Buffalo up 3-2 in the second period was the swing moment, and he didn’t blink in the third when the Sabres tried to climb back. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got the hook after two periods with five goals against on 23 shots.
It was the third game in the last four where Buffalo gave up five or more. The Sabres face elimination for the first time these playoffs on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET at the Bell Centre.
Habs fans haven’t watched an Eastern Conference Final since 2014. One more win at home and they’re in.
