Sabres host Canadiens in 2nd round with youthful teams eager to go on long playoff run
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — In between addressing the Sabres’ anemic power play and needing to be better on home ice, coach Lindy Ruff took time to reflect on Buffalo’s rich but relatively ancient playoff history against the Montreal Canadiens.
His memories go back to 1983, when a 23-year-old Ruff was part of a Sabres team that swept Montreal in a best-of-five first-round series.
“The Forum, yeah,” Ruff said, referring to playing in the historic arena that served home to the Canadiens until 1996. “It was in black and white, too,” he said, chuckling.
Everything might seem vintage for the Sabres in rekindling generations-old rivalries after snapping a 14-season playoff drought.
Coming off a six-game elimination of the Bruins in the first round, the Sabres gear up to face Montreal — yet another former Adams Division foe — in a second-round series opening at Buffalo on Wednesday night.
No need to dust off the history books. The matchup is less about the past and more reflects a changing of the guard taking place in the Eastern Conference this season.
These Sabres are still new to the postseason, while the Canadiens are making their second straight appearance, but just their fifth in 11 years. Montreal advanced to the second round for just the second time over that span after beating Tampa Bay in Game 7 on Sunday.
Both teams have speed, are flush with youth, finished the regular season ranked among the NHL’s top 10 in scoring, and eager to show they’re Stanley Cup contenders.
“There’s no reason why we can’t make a deep run,” Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle said, following a series-clinching 2-1 win at Tampa Bay. “We have all of the tools in here, and I’m not shocked at all that we’re in this position right now.”
Beating the Lightning with all games decided by one goal was regarded as the next step for a Canadiens team eliminated in five games by Washington a year ago. The Canadiens have essentially been rebuilt from scratch in four years under general manager Kent Hughes.
“Been probably faster than most people expected,” captain Nick Suzuki said of Montreal’s turnaround. “But when you get a lot of great players together with a great system and great leadership, things can turn quickly.”
It took far longer in Buffalo. The Sabres hadn’t made the playoffs since 2010-2011 and hadn’t won a series since 2006-07.
And yet, these upstart and playoff-untested Sabres didn’t deviate from the up-tempo and tenacious style that had them finish the season riding a 39-9-5 surge and win their first Atlantic Division title.
“A pretty damn resilient team. We can manage the emotions of a series,” Ruff said of how the Sabres didn’t falter after losing Games 2 and 5 at home, while winning all three on the road. “Our group did a good job of being able to control the emotions and put games away when it didn’t go our way.”
Tale of the hockey tape
Buffalo and Montreal split their four-game regular-season series, with the Sabres winning two of the three matchups in January just before the Olympic break. The Sabres were 0-5-2 at home against Montreal before a 5-3 win on Jan. 15.
Montreal has a 4-3 playoff series edge over Buffalo. The Sabres won the previous matchup in a four-game sweep of a second-round series in 1998 during Ruff’s first stint as coach. Established in 1970, Buffalo’s franchise playoff debut ended in a first-round six-game loss to Montreal in 1973.
Power-play troubles
The Sabres converted 1 of 24 power-play opportunities against Boston. Their 4.2% conversion rate was tied for 865th out of 897 teams having 20 or more opportunities in a playoff series since 1978, according to Sportradar. Buffalo also went 0 for 22 on the power play over its final seven regular-season games.
Montreal converted 5 of 26 power-play opportunities against Tampa Bay, while allowing the Lightning to convert 5 of 29 chances.
O Canada
Canadiens fans should feel at home in the border city that attracts many fans from southern Ontario.
Sabres fans made headlines during Game 5 of the Boston series by taking over singing `O Canada,’ after performer Cami Clune’s microphone failed. In founding the team, brothers Seymour H. Knox III and Northrup Knox, went with the French version of Sabres for a nickname. They also established a rule that still stands in having both Canadian and U.S. anthems performed no matter the opponent.
Slafkovsky doing OK
Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky said he’s had no ill-effects from being bowled over by a heavy open-ice hit by Lightning defenseman Max Crozier in Game 4. Slafkovsky briefly left the game before being cleared to return after being evaluated for a concussion.
“I think I’m good. I can’t really get much dumber,” said Slafkovsky, who leads the team with three goals in the playoffs. “Yeah, I don’t know what to say. It didn’t really hurt. Just ready to go.”
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The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
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