05/10/26 11:52:00
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05/10 23:50 CDT Canadiens beat Sabres 6-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the
second-round Eastern Conference series
Canadiens beat Sabres 6-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the second-round Eastern
Conference series
MONTREAL (AP) --- Cole Caufield scored his second goal of the playoffs and
added an assist as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-2 in a
dominant Game 3 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in their second-round
playoff series.
Alex Newhook had two goals, including an empty-netter, and Zachary Bolduc,
Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach also scored for Montreal.
Lane Hutson and Jake Evans each had two assists, and Jakub Dobes made 26 saves
as the Canadiens won consecutive games for the first time in this season's
playoffs.
The Montreal crowd broke into chants of "Do-by! Do-by!" --- one of several
ovations the rookie goalie received Sunday night --- as Dobes burst into
laughter from his crease.
"It warms your heart, and I'm really proud to be a Canadien and play for this
franchise," Dobes said. "After the Tampa series, I couldn't believe some of the
things that happened in the city, but it's so much fun. I'm just happy that the
fans are having fun with this as much as we do."
It is quickly becoming the spring of Dobes in Montreal, though the candid
netminder insists he's still his same old self.
"I'm not a hero, I'm just me. I'm just a goofy goalie who tries to stop pucks,"
Dobes said. "I will pretty much go home, eat, watch Game of Thrones and go to
bed. I don't think that's anything heroic.
"And when it's time to do my job I will do anything to win and make this
franchise happy, make these fans happy."
Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo,
which dropped its first road game of the postseason. Alex Lyon stopped 31 shots
in his second straight loss.
The teams split the first two games in Buffalo. The Sabres handed the Canadiens
a 4-2 loss in Game 1 before Montreal responded with a 5-1 victory in Game 2.
Game 4 is Tuesday night in Montreal.
"Everyone in the room has better. We still haven't gotten to what I think is
our best game," Thompson said. "It starts with me, it starts with Dahlin,
(Alex) Tuch. There's more in the tank."
Minutes after missing an open net, Caufield scored on the power play for his
first goal in six games to give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead 6:05 into the second
and kick off a wild, four-goal period.
Hutson deked around a stick-less Jordan Greenway and dropped a pass to
Caufield, who scored into the gaping net as the crowd erupted.
The Canadiens appeared to gain a 3-1 lead one minute later when Josh Anderson's
backhand trickled through Lyon as Phillip Danault crashed the crease. The
officials, however, ruled no goal.
Bolduc ultimately gave the Canadiens a two-goal advantage at 10:43 in the
second after Joe Veleno chased down a puck behind Sabres defenseman Logan
Stanley and set him up.
Chaos ensued two minutes later when Beck Malenstyn ran over Dobes, setting off
a massive scrum and sending the Canadiens on a power play. Slafkovsky made it
4-1 with a deflection on Hutson's point shot as Montreal went 2 for 5 with the
man advantage.
Dahlin cut into the deficit with 5:14 left in the second period, sending a shot
off the far post.
But Dach restored the three-goal lead at 8:46 in the third when he pulled a
loose puck out from under Lyon and fired a shot into the open net.
The goal followed multiple key saves from Dobes, twice denying Zach Benson, as
the Canadiens fended off a Sabres pushback that included a nervy penalty kill
early in the period.
Newhook, who also scored twice in Game 2, added his second when he was hooked
with a clear path to the empty net with 4:46 left in the third.
Large crowds packed the surrounding streets hours ahead of the game. Kirk
Muller carried the ceremonial torch before puck drop of the Canadiens' first
second-round playoff game before a full Bell Centre since 2015.
Thompson wasted little time to --- temporarily --- quiet the crowd, opening the
scoring 53 seconds in after Dahlin's point shot deflected off the end boards
and onto his stick. He ended a seven-game drought after going minus-4 with a
costly turnover in Game 2.
"We started off really good," Thompson said. "There were spurts throughout the
game where I thought we got to our game and played to our standard, but just
not consistent enough, and we gave them life.
"The building is pretty rocking, so it's a little deflating."
Newhook sparked a run of four unanswered goals by the Canadiens.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
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