Canadiens defeat Sabres in Game 5, on verge of Eastern Conference Final

BUFFALO -- Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists for the Montreal Canadiens, who are on the verge of advancing to the Eastern Conference Final following a 6-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres in Game 5 of the second round at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

The Canadiens lead the series 3-2. Game 6 is at Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, CBC, TVAS).

“The city is already pretty crazy,” Suzuki said. “We saw against Tampa, it takes a lot to close out a team. And we have another opportunity to do that. I'm sure the crowd is going to be into it hours before the game starts and it's going to be rocking. We're ready for that, excited for the opportunity to close it out.”

Ivan Demidov scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal and had an assist, and Juraj Slafkovsky had three assists for Montreal, which is the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Division. Phillip Danault and Lane Hutson each had two assists, and Jakub Dobes made 33 saves.

Jason Zucker, Josh Doan and Konsta Helenius scored for Buffalo, the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic.

“They pushed harder than we did,” Sabres forward Alex Tuch said. “We gave them opportunities and chances, and on ours we didn’t bear down, and not the best puck play by us. And, yeah, we got outworked.”

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed five goals on 23 shots before being replaced at the start of the third period by Alex Lyon, who made two saves.

“There’s nothing (Luukkonen) could’ve done on the first goal. There’s nothing he could’ve done on the second goal,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think the (fourth) goal that went in from a real tough angle, I think that’s one that he would want back. So, if I would’ve made a decision, would it have made a difference? Possibly. But all year, we haven’t made it about our goaltender, and we’re not gonna make it about our goaltender now.”

The teams combined for five goals in the opening 10:15.

Zucker gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 2:00 of the first period. Jack Quinn put a wrist shot towards net from above the left face-off circle, and the puck deflected off Zucker's right skate and then off Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson in front before going into the net. It was Zucker's first playoff goal since April 21, 2024, when he was a member of the Nashville Predators.

Cole Caufield tied it 1-1 at 6:31, redirecting Suzuki's pass into an open net following a Buffalo turnover in the defensive zone.

Doan put the Sabres up 2-1 at 7:45 when he finished a feed from Owen Power with a one-timer from above the left circle.

Alexandre Texier evened the score 2-2 just nine seconds later at 7:54 after Alexandre Carrier's wrist shot from the blue line deflected in off his left skate as he battled for position in front of the net.

“We got to make sure we have four or five really hard shifts after we score,” Buffalo captain Rasmus Dahlin said. “We kind of let them score right away on us, and that just kills our momentum.” 

Helenius gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead with his first playoff goal at 10:15, skating into the offensive zone and putting a wrist shot through the five-hole from the edge of the right circle. It was also the first point of the postseason for Helenius, who played his first playoff game on May 12.

The Canadiens scored three goals in the second period to take a two-goal lead.

Josh Anderson tied it 3-3 at 8:01 of the second period when he finished a backdoor pass from Hutson.

Just over four minutes earlier, Dobes got his left pad out to deny Tage Thompson on a partial breakaway.

“I think after that moment, we started to flip the momentum,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “I think for, can’t say exactly, but 12, 13 minutes in the second we had the momentum. We played the way we’re capable of. … We were dangerous from that point on and forced them to defend.”

Jake Evans put the Canadiens ahead 4-3 at 16:15. Demidov's initial wrist shot from the right circle squeaked through Luukkonen and Evans poked the loose puck over the goal line as he crashed the net.

Suzuki scored a power-play goal to make it 5-3 at 17:33, snapping the puck under the right pad of Luukkonen from the right circle off a Slafkovsky pass.

“The power play goal was huge, felt like it gave us a little bit of breathing room,” Suzuki said. “… And we got another power play goal right after that in the third period. You go up three and you need to close those games out and we were able to do that just defending hard and blocking shots and just kept trying to put the foot on the gas a little bit, too.”

Demidov pushed the lead to 6-3 at 3:32 of the third period when he beat Lyon to the glove side with a wrist shot from the high slot while on the power play.

The Sabres outshot the Canadiens 20-3 in the third.

NOTES: Montreal is 5-0 following a loss this postseason. ... Dobes became the fifth Canadiens rookie goaltender to record at least seven wins in a single postseason. He joined Patrick Roy (15 in 1986), Ken Dryden (12 in 1971), Steve Penney (nine in 1984) and Bill Durnan (eight in 1944). ... Suzuki extended his postseason-opening road point streak to seven games (10 points; four goals, six assists). The only Canadiens player with a longer run is Mats Naslund (eight games in 1987). ... Hutson became the seventh Montreal defenseman to record 10 assists in a single postseason, following Larry Robinson (17 in 1987 & 1978, 13 in 1986 and 10 in 1977), Chris Chelios (15 in 1989), J.C. Tremblay (14 in 1971), Doug Harvey (11 in 1959), Petr Svoboda (11 in 1989) and Eric Desjardins (10 in 1993). ... Doan extended his point streak to six games (two goals, six assists). He is the third Sabres player in the past 25 years to record a run of that length in the postseason, joining Thomas Vanek (six games in 2007) and Daniel Brière (seven games in 2006 and six games in 2007). ... Helenius (20 years, 3 days) became the youngest player born outside North America to record a postseason goal for the Sabres, besting Hannu Virta (20 years, 31 days in Game 6 of 1983 Division Finals).