Montréal Canadiens turned a wild start into a composed finish, beating the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 at a full KeyBank Center. The hosts scored three in the first period, then never again. Montréal replied with five unanswered across the second and third to take control. The result gives the Canadiens a 3-2 series lead in the NHL Playoffs, per the event data.

Fast first period, five goals in eight minutes

Buffalo exploded early. Jason Zucker opened the scoring from Jack Quinn and Conor Timmins, then Josh Doan doubled it off a feed from Owen Power. After Cole Caufield pulled one back from Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovský, Konsta Helenius restored the Sabres’ lead with helpers from Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson.

Montréal kept it close with another quick answer. Alexandre Texier leveled the game at 2-2, assisted by Alexandre Carrier and Phillip Danault. It was 3-2 Sabres at the first intermission, but the shot count already hinted at chaos to come.

Second-period swing decides the tone

The middle frame belonged to Montréal. Josh Anderson tied it from Lane Hutson and Danault, then Jake Evans made it 4-3 off Ivan Demidov and Alex Newhook. Suzuki capped the turnaround with a power play strike, set up by Hutson and Slafkovský.

Special teams tilted the night. The Canadiens went a perfect 2-for-2 on the power play and won 56 percent of faceoffs overall. The Sabres went 0-for-2 with the extra skater and chased the puck more often at the dots.

Shot volume vs. shot quality in the third

Buffalo threw everything at the net late, outshooting Montréal 20-3 in the third period. The visitors ate pucks for fun, registering 11 blocks in the final frame and 25 overall. Jakub Dobeš stopped 33 of 36 for a 0.917 save percentage.

At the other end, Demidov needed only one chance to finish it. His power play goal, assisted by Suzuki and Slafkovský, settled the score at 6-3. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 18 saves on 23 shots in 40 minutes for Buffalo before Alex Lyon came in, allowing one on three.

Numbers that tell the story

– Shots on goal finished 36-26 Sabres, but Montréal’s shooting was sharper, especially on special teams.
– The Canadiens blocked 25 shots to Buffalo’s 11, a huge factor in that scoreless third for the Sabres.
– Faceoffs went 33-26 to Montréal, with Danault winning 78 percent of his draws.
– Game stars via the event data: 1) Nick Suzuki 1G, 2A; 2) Juraj Slafkovský 3A; 3) Ivan Demidov 1G, 1A.

A chippy finish saw matching 10-minute misconducts to Zach Benson and Alex Newhook at 58 minutes. Montréal kept its cool and the puck, and heads home with the upper hand. For full box score details, shot maps and live win probability, check the game page on Sofascore.