Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Buffalo Sabres will again meet an old rival in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Sunday night to move on.
Buffalo and Montreal played four times in the regular season, splitting the series 2-2. Three of those meetings came in January with Buffalo winning twice. The combined score of those four games was 13-13.
There's likely to be more offense in this series compared to the Sabres' Round 1 series with Boston. Buffalo and Montreal ranked 5th and 7th in goals scored this season, with 283 and 279, respectively.
It's the first playoff series between Buffalo and Montreal since 1998 when the Sabres swept the Canadiens in the 2nd round.
Players to watch for Montreal
There's plenty of similarities between these two teams. Montreal, like the Sabres, has a crew of youngsters leading the way. 25-year-old Cole Caufield was snubbed by the US Olympic team. He had 51 goals and 37 assists this season. 26-year-old Nick Suzuki was behind him with 29 goals, followed by 21-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky who had 30 goals. Both were Olympians, with Suzuki representing Canada and Slafkovsky representing Slovakia.
Behind that core is 20-year-old Russian speedster Ivan Demidov who scored 19 times this season and Rookie of the Year candidate Oliver Kapanen who scored 22 goals.
21-year-old Lane Hutson is Montreal's star on defense. Hutson is one of the most exciting defensemen in the game, scoring 12 goals and 66 assists. He too was left off Team USA's Olympic roster.
In goal is 24-year-old Czech Jakub Dobeš. He had a pedestrian regular season with a .901 save percentage but was stellar against Tampa in Round 1, stopping 181 of 196 shots for a .923 save percentage. He was 2-0 against the Sabres in the regular season.
Special Teams Showdown
Special teams will again be central in this series. Montreal had the 10th-ranked powerplay in the NHL while the Sabres had the league's 4th-ranked penalty kill.
Östlund, Carrick out for series
Sabres Head Coach Lindy Ruff confirmed Sunday forwards Noah Östlund and Sam Carrick won't be ready for the 2nd round.
“I don’t believe either will be available in this series yet,” Ruff said.
Carrick injured his arm March 31st. Östlund played in three games against Boston, scoring a goal and assist before sustaining a lower-body injury.
Where to watch/listen
MSG will no longer broadcast the games for the remainder of the playoffs, but Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray can still be heard on WGR.
The full game schedule, with the networks that will carry them, is below.
- Game 1 – Wednesday, May 6 at 7 p.m. | KeyBank Center (TNT, truTV, HBO MAX)
- Game 2 – Friday, May 8 at 7 p.m. | KeyBank Center (TNT, truTV, HBO MAX)
- Game 3 – Sunday, May 10 at 7 p.m. | Bell Centre (ESPN)
- Game 4 – Tuesday, May 12, time TBD | Bell Centre (ESPN)
- Game 5 – Thursday, May 14, time TBD | KeyBank Center (TNT, truTV, HBO MAX)
- Game 6 – Saturday, May 16, time TBD | Bell Centre (ABC or ESPN)
- Game 7 – Monday, May 18, time TBD | KeyBank Center (ESPN)
Game 1 is Wednesday night at 7 in Buffalo
Game 1 is Wednesday night at 7 in Buffalo
