The Montreal Canadiens had a probability to advance to the Eastern Conference Final with a Saturday night home game on the Bell Centre against the Buffalo Sabres. Game 6 could’ve been an important moment in modern Canadiens history if the team had found a strategy to hold on to the 3-1 lead they in-built the primary period, however the momentum of a rocking home crowd wasn’t enough to get them over the finish line.
The Sabres scored seven unanswered goals, starting with a Jason Zucker powerplay goal late in the primary period that swung the momentum back in Buffalo’s favor. Emerging Buffalo hero Zach Benson scored the tying goal within the second, Jack Quinn scored the go-ahead goal, and the remaining was history for the Sabres as they brought the series back to a deciding Game 7 at home.
The Canadiens did the worst possible thing of their loss on Saturday night, and that was to get up a struggling Sabres powerplay. Buffalo had been one in all the worst teams on the person advantage over the past couple of months, but they went 4-for-6 in Game 6.
While the undisciplined play didn’t help matters, the Canadiens are going to wish some more production from a number of the players who got them where they’re. If not, their season may very well be over on Monday night.
Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield need higher for Canadiens
The Canadiens’ first line has been the driving force behind their success for the last two seasons. Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki, and Cole Caufield have been the team’s offensive catalysts, while also playing decently enough at their very own end to justify playing against the opposite team’s best. Nonetheless, it’s now two consecutive home games where the trio were within the starting lineup and gave up a goal, this time from Rasmus Dahlin in Game 6.
The goal got here from a Slafkovsky turnover where he attempted a weak flip out of the zone, and it didn’t make it past the blueline. Mattias Samuelsson was in a position to get the puck past Caufield, after which Dahlin made an important move around a diving Slafkovsky to place home the goal.
It was an unpleasant start that took the air out of the constructing immediately, however the Canadiens did rally off three consecutive goals to take back a 3-1 lead, with Caufield assisting on the go-ahead goal. Nonetheless, it was the one real impact the diminutive forward had on the sport, while Slafkovsky has only one goal and 4 assists within the series, with three of those assists coming in a single game.
The sport got away from the Canadiens on Saturday night, meaning a few goals from the primary line would not have made much of a difference. Nonetheless, they do need more from their top line on Monday.
Jakub Dobes has back-to-back questionable starts
The Sabres outshot the Canadiens 36-22 on Saturday night, which is not conducive to success. Nonetheless, allowing six goals in the style Dobes did is a bit concerning, with the worst being Quinn’s go-ahead goal that made it 4-3.
Dobes’ Game 5 performance after he allowed his third goal on the primary 4 shots was a bit concerning for Canadiens fans. He bounced back incredibly, however the trend of losing focus and allowing goals in bunches over the past two games is a problem.
If Dobes lets that occur again in Game 7, it may very well be harder for the Canadiens to return back in that setting. Montreal will need him to remain locked in.
The Montreal Canadiens had a probability to advance to the Eastern Conference Final with a Saturday night home game on the Bell Centre against the Buffalo Sabres. Game 6 could’ve been an important moment in modern Canadiens history if the team had found a strategy to hold on to the 3-1 lead they in-built the primary period, however the momentum of a rocking home crowd wasn’t enough to get them over the finish line.