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| Montreal moves one win from conference final after road win in Buffalo |
Montreal scored six goals in Buffalo to go up 3-2 in the series. Demidov, Suzuki and Caufield led the way as the Canadiens close in on the conference final.
After a 5-goal opening 10 minutes, Montreal pulled away with goals from Suzuki, Anderson and Demidov to take control of the series...
Montreal moved one step closer to the
conference final after beating Buffalo 6-3 on the road to go up 3-2 in the series.
The Sabres scored first three times in the opening period but couldn’t hold the lead, letting the Canadiens pull away at home.
Both teams had traded wins at home and on the road before
Game 5. Montreal has now won back-to-back games in Buffalo.
The Habs fell behind early when
Jack Quinn’s shot deflected in off Jason Zucker’s leg just two minutes in.
Montreal drew level 4:30 later after Buffalo turned the puck over in their own zone.
Juraj Slafkovsky fed
Nick Suzuki on a break, and Suzuki set up
Cole Caufield for a close-range finish to make it 1-1.
The frantic first period kept going as the teams traded chances. Buffalo went ahead again through
Josh Doan, who scored from just inside the blue line. His shot found its way through traffic, with several players screening the goalie.
Buffalo’s lead lasted only nine seconds. Right off the faceoff, Montreal struck again when
Alexandre Texier tipped Alexandre Carrier’s shot past the goalie for 2-2.
The scoring kept coming. Midway through the period, the Sabres went back in front when
Konsta Helenius bobbled Mattias Samuelsson’s pass but recovered quickly to slide it through Jakub Dobes’ legs.
Even though Montreal outshot Buffalo 11-7, they went into the first intermission trailing. All five goals came in a chaotic opening 10:15.
The second period started slower, but the Habs tied it for the third time when Josh Anderson buried a pass from Lane Hutson into an open net.
Montreal, who had 23 shots through the first two periods, finally grabbed their first lead when
Ivan Demidov fired from the wing and beat Pekka-Ukko Luukkonen. Jake Evans was right there to tap in the rebound.
The pressure was mounting on Buffalo, who came into the game 2-3 at home in the playoffs. It got worse just over a minute later when they were forced to kill a Montreal power play. Even from a tight angle, Suzuki managed to fire one across goal and in to make it 5-3.
Buffalo spent most of the third period pushing for a goal to get back in it. But they couldn’t convert any of their 19 shots on net.
Montreal only managed three shots in the final 20 minutes, but they made one count. Demidov scored again from point-blank range for his first career playoff goal.
The Canadiens held the lead to close it out and take a 3-2 series lead. They’ll have a chance to advance on Saturday when the series shifts back to Montreal for Game 6.
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