Montreal, Quebec (WGR 550) - Thanks to two very poor games, the Buffalo Sabres now trails their best of seven second round Stanley Cup Series two games to one. Before we dive into Game 3 which was not even close to the Sabres worst game I want to remind everybody that if Buffalo gets back to their game and wins Game 4, they go back to Western New York 2-2 and still have home ice advantage.
Sunday may have been the worst defensive zone coverage I’ve seen out of this team all season. The Montreal Canadiens used its speed to get to open ice and were pretty much uncovered for a majority of the game which they won 6-2. I don’t think the team could play any worse defensively.
They basically handed the Canadiens six power plays which kept the crowd wound up in a frenzy that never stopped. What happens in that arena is absolutely next level that isn’t matched in any other arena.
If I’m being honest it seemed like the Sabres were somewhat intimidated by the crowd.
Buffalo did get off to a 1-0 lead just 52 seconds into the game. The Tage Thompson line got in hard on the forecheck. The puck came back to the point to Rasmus Dahlin. His shot hit Montreal winger Juraj Slafkovsky in front, hit off the bouncy boards behind the net to Thompson who was waiting in the crease to score into the empty net. It was Thompson’s first goal in eight games. Thompson did add an assist and now has nine points in nine playoff games. Where the problem lies is the three games against Montreal where he has one goal and one assist and is minus-7.
This season Thompson is one of the players that helped this team believe in itself and dig out of a hole that saw them in last place in December. He said,
“It’s about everyone in this room and just getting to our game. I think we worried about other things that were out of our control the ref, the calls, what they were doing, just a little distracted there I thought so everyone in this room has better, we still haven’t gotten to what I think is our best game and obviously it starts with me, it starts with “Dahls’, ‘Tuchy’ and there’s more in the tank, there’s more we can do, another level we can get to, we’ve just got to find it.”
Alex Tuch is now the one slumping with one point in five games. In the three games in this series he has no points and is minus-five. Bo Byram has one goal and is minus-4.
Often a goal like the one Thompson scored will take the wind out of the crowd, but not this one, they cracked up the intensity even more.
Alex Lyon did give up five goals on 36 shots, but Lindy Ruff didn’t want to hear blame put on Lyon who made numerous point-blank saves. Personally I’m thinking that Ruff may turn to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for Game 4 only to shake up the team, not because of Lyon.
When Jarmo Kekalainen acquired Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn from the Winnipeg Jets it was with the Tampa Bay Lightning in mind. Stanley can’t seem to keep up with the Canadiens and he really hasn’t seemed all that interested in mixing things up with the opponent. Buffalo is done with the Boston Bruins and aren’t going to be playing the Lightning, so it’s time to sit Stanley and put the faster and quicker Michael Kesselring into the lineup. Kesselring also seems to be more willing to mix it up when it’s called for. It does put Ruff in a bad spot with two right handed shooting defensemen on the third pair but this just isn’t and won’t work against Montreal.
The new look Buffalo power play did look good. Rasmus Dahlin scored with the extra man using a very good Zach Benson screen to give the Sabres a power play goal in just one minute with the extra man. In the third period on the power play, they dominated possession, worked hard, won numerous battles and got two wild schmazels going in the crease, but somehow couldn’t get the puck past Jakub Dobes.
Trailing 4-2 in the third period they continued to press hard, but gave up a 2-on-1 because of it. They didn’t score on that, but Lyon couldn’t find the puck in the crease, but Kirby Dach did to put the game away at 5-2. I don’t blame the Sabres one bit, you have to press there and sometimes it results in outnumbered rushes against.
Alex Newhook has become a huge problem for Buffalo. In three games he has four goals and is plus-4. Other than that the Canadiens have spread the scoring around the lineup. Cole Caufield scored 51-goals in the regular season. He picked up his first two points of the series on Sunday.
If Lindy Ruff can’t figure out how to counter Montreal’s speed and transition, this series will be over Thursday in Buffalo. He said,
“They’re a good team, but if you put the puck in the right place, you can control some of that play, we feel some of their aggression and they get on you and they force some of those plays, I give them a lot of credit, and I said before this started they beat a helluva a team, they are a helluva a team, don’t take them for granted and if we don’t realize it now, we’re never going to realize it.”
The Sabres are in a must win situation in Game 4 on Tuesday. If they return home down three games to one, their chances will be extremely thin to win three in a row and advance to play the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals. Faceoff for Game 4 is 7:05. Game 5 Thursday in Buffalo will also begin at 7:05.
Buffalo is in a must win situation Tuesday for Game 4
Buffalo is in a must win situation Tuesday for Game 4
