Buffalo looking to assert dominance over Montreal with another win
Buffalo Sabres (5-2) vs Montreal Canadiens (4-4)
Puck Drop: 7:00 PM ET | KeyBank Center | Buffalo, New York
TV: TNT, HBO MAX, MSG-B
Radio: WGR 550
Know Your Opponent
Montreal Canadiens
Record: 48-24-10 | 106 PTS
Division Ranking: 3rd in the Atlantic Division
Last Game: Lost to Buffalo 4-2
PP: 21.4% | Sabres 11.1%
PK: 78.1% | Sabres 83.3%
What to Watch
1. Keep Up The Intensity
It might have been fatigue from their seven-game series with the Lightning, but the Canadiens seemed surprised by the ferociousness of the Sabres’ forecheck in Game 1. Buffalo came out hitting hard and pressing the puck-carrier, and it worked for the most part as the hosts looked the better side 5-v-5.
Montreal should not be as shell-shocked tonight, and will attempt to evade the Sabres full court press by passing the puck even quicker, but that in turn should give Buffalo more opportunities to create chances off turnovers, a metric the Sabres lead the postseason in.
2. Maintain Discipline
Montreal’s power play looked terrifying at times. Their top unit looked like they could find each other blindfolded! While the Sabres did well selling out to block shots that also created openings down low, and they will have to maintain shooting lane discipline to avoid that.
Or, you know, just not take silly penalties, knowing that certain Habs have already shown a tendency to flop like a gutted fish.
3. Spread The Love
The Zucker – McLeod – Quinn is long overdue for a breakout performance at even strength. McLeod finally broke his scoring duck with a power play goal, and Quinn had half a dozen shot attempts most of which were of high quality. After Benson – Norris – Doan gave Montreal fits on Wednesday, you can expect them to get a lot of defensive attention tonight, and Marty St. Louis has learned he can’t sleep on the Greenway – Kozak – Malenstyn line either.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Forwards:
Krebs – Thompson – Tuch
Zucker – McLeod – Quinn
Benson – Norris – Doan
Greenway – Kozak – Malenstyn
Defense:
Samuelsson – Dahlin
Byram – Power
Stanley – Timmins
Goalies:
Lyon, Luukkonen
Montreal Canadiens
Forwards:
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovsky
Alex Newhook – Jake Evans – Ivan Demidov
Alexandre Texier – Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson
Zack Bolduc – Joe Veleno – Kirby Dach
Defense:
Mike Matheson – Alexandre Carrier
Lane Hutson – Kaiden Guhle
Arber Xhekaj – Noah Dobson
Goalies:
Dobeš, Fowler
Related
