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Canadiens Highlights: Dominant Win Evens Series Versus Sabres
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- Canadiens Highlights: Dominant Win Evens Series Versus Sabres
Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
The Montreal Canadiens were in Buffalo on Friday night, hoping to even the series with the Sabres before returning to Quebec.
It was one of the Habs’ best games of the playoffs, a dominant effort that resulted in a well-deserved 5-1 win.
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The Sabres did land more hits than the Canadiens, but that was simply a matter of the home team chasing the play for the majority of the game.
In every metric that mattered, the Canadiens were the better team.
Let’s dive into the highlights!
He’s The B’y
The Habs needed a strong start, a rarity when examining their season, to avoid having to chase yet another deficit against a suffocating opponent.
Newfoundlander Alex Newhook obliged, scoring his second goal of the playoffs less than two minutes into the first period, with assists awarded to Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson . The latter, in particular, enjoyed an absolutely fantastic outing on Friday night.
Another One
The Canadiens did not rest on their laurels, doubling their lead just a few moments later when Mike Matheson ’s excellent point shot found the back of the net.
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All things considered, it was easily Montreal’s best period of the playoffs. They were dominant at 5v5, as evidenced by their 7-0 advantage in high-danger scoring chances.
It may even have been Montreal’s best period of the season.
Enlist You Newfoundlanders And Come Follow Me!
Newhook was not satisfied with his lone goal.
He would go on to score his third goal of the playoffs early in the second period, via a great pass by veteran Jake Evans .
Seeing as Montreal’s first line has struggled to produce anything remotely similar to the offence they provided in the regular season, it must be said that Montreal’s depth players have done a great job helping the Habs overcome a very difficult situation.
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We also have to give full marks to Noah Dobson on this play, as he absorbed a massive hit to start the rush.
Dolly Dagger
The Sabres did end Dobes’ shutout bid, which led to Zach Benson chirping the Canadiens netminder in what can only be described as a desperate attempt to throw him off his game.
But Dobes lives for that type of stuff.
Benson merely adopted the grease.
Dobes was born in it.
Moulded by it.
He lives to chirp, and chirps to live.
Shockingly, or not , the chirping attempt by Benson did not lead to much, other than an uptick in effort from the Habs, not to mention a great goal by defenceman Alexandre Carrier to put his team ahead 4-1.
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( Editor’s Note: The tweet embedded below mentions “ Logan Thompson ” erroneously. It was, in fact, Sabres forward Tage Thompson.)
The Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Sunday, facing the Sabres at the Bell Centre for Game 3. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick .
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