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Cole Caufield can’t explain why, but he’ll take it. The Montreal Canadiens winger scored 51 goals during the regular season, 21 of which came on Saturdays — in just 23 games.
“Maybe it’s (because) usually I have family visiting on the weekend, I honestly don’t know,” Caufield said after a team workout Saturday morning. “It is a crazy kind of stat, I’ve got to pick it up during the weekdays though.”
The Canadiens are set for their biggest Saturday game yet this season.
They host the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 on Saturday night with a chance to close out their second-round playoff series in front of an electric crowd — and Montreal is happy to have “Mr. Saturday Night” on its side.
“We don’t hate that,” coach Martin St. Louis said of Caufield’s track record on Saturdays. “He loves the game, and I think with that energy of a Saturday night at the Bell Centre, does it raise the love of the game?
“I don’t know, but he finds himself in great situations on Saturday night for whatever reason, and it’s fun to watch.”
After a slow start to the playoffs, Caufield has scored in three straight games.
Montreal holds a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal after rookie Ivan Demidov scored his first career playoff goal Thursday to help the Habs beat the Sabres 6-3 in Buffalo.
The Canadiens also led 3-2 in the opening round against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a chance to end the series at home in Game 6, but dropped a 1-0 overtime decision before pulling out a road victory in Game 7.
This time, they’re hoping to avoid another winner-take-all scenario.
“It’s good that we can redeem ourselves this year,” centre Phillip Danault said. “It’s not like we lost our last series and we have to wait until next year.”
The Carolina Hurricanes await the series winner after sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers.
St. Louis said the key for the Canadiens will be avoiding the temptation to make the moment bigger than it is.
“Of course the guys want it. Guys want to close the series tonight, for sure, who doesn’t?” he said. “If you spend so much time telling them how important it is, do you raise the level of stress? So to me, it’s just another game. Let’s go play. The nets will be there, same spot. Blue line, red line.
“It’s (about) not getting caught up into, `Oh, I’ve got to rise to this occasion.’ No, it’s just playing to your standards.”
Defenceman Kaiden Guhle said at this stage, “It’s all mental.”
“If you get nervous or overthink the game just because you have a chance of closing out, you’re probably putting yourself in a bad spot,” he added. “Just play the game you’ve been playing all series.”
Defenceman Lane Hutson and captain Nick Suzuki lead Montreal’s offence with 12 points apiece in these playoffs.
Tage Thompson has 11 points for Buffalo.
Back to Lyon
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff wouldn’t reveal any lineup changes Saturday, though all signs point to Alex Lyon starting in goal.
Lyon replaced Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the third period in Thursday’s loss after the Finnish netminder gave up five goals on 23 shots.
All three Sabres netminders participated in an optional morning skate, but Lyon was the first goalie on the ice and took shots in the starter’s net while Luukkonen and Colten Ellis skated at the other end.
Lyon, 33, has a .917 save percentage and 2.25 goals-against average in nine appearances these playoffs.
The puck drops at the Bell Centre at 8 p.m. tonight. Streets surrounding the arena will be shut down to traffic starting at 1 p.m. Saturday.
