MONTREAL – In the moment, the score meant nothing to the Buffalo Sabres. That they faced an early two-goal deficit after captain Rasmus Dahlin scored 32 seconds into the do-or-die contest, well, so be it.
If they maintained their focus on Saturday against the Canadiens, they told themselves, and kept doing the right things in the hostile Bell Centre, they would be rewarded.
“We actually liked our game to start,” winger Jason Zucker said after the Sabres’ wild come-from-behind 8-3 win forced Game 7 on Monday in Buffalo, “so it was kind of a ‘let’s just stick with it.’”
Undeterred, the Sabres plowed forward in Game 6 of the second-round series, completing one of the most memorable comebacks in franchise history.
“I felt like the bench was alive the whole game,” Dahlin said after his five-point outing tied a franchise record in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “We believed that from the beginning.”
In erasing the Canadiens’ 3-1 lead – goalie Alex Lyon got yanked having stopped just one of the four shots he faced in the opening 10:14 – the Sabres became the first team in NHL history to trail by multiple goals in a road game in the playoffs and win by five goals, according to OptiSTATS.
“Just told the team to stay with it,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We were moving the puck well, defending well.”
After goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen replaced Lyon, winger Jason Zucker scored a power-play goal at 13:56, the first of Buffalo’s seven unanswered goals.
Winger Zach Benson tied the game 1:00 into the second period before winger Jack Quinn’s power-play goal at 10:54 restored the Sabres’ lead for good.
Dahlin assisted on Quinn’s first goal of the postseason and four others. The Swede joined Derek Roy (May 5, 2006) and John Tucker (April 10, 1988) as the only Sabres to register five points in a playoff game.
He also became the first defenseman in NHL history to record five points when facing elimination.
“It’s an elimination game for us, and our captain steps up,” Luukkonen said. “That’s how you lead a team. I think that’s been the whole year how well he has played. It’s not always if you’re the loudest on the bench or in the locker room. You take games over when you need to, and I think he very much showed it today.”
Dahlin wasn’t the only Sabres player who rose to the occasion before the raucous capacity crowd of 20,962 fans.
Winger Tage Thompson, who has endured some rocky moments in the series, scored an empty-net goal after recording three assists.
Thompson usually serves as the top center. But staring down elimination, Ruff had to make changes, so he overhauled his lines. Thompson, who has spent parts of the last two season playing the wing, moved alongside Benson and center Josh Norris.
Struggling winger Alex Tuch moved alongside center Ryan McLeod and Josh Doan. Peyton Krebs moved from left wing on the No. 1 line to center on the fourth line with Jordan Greenway and Beck Malenstyn.
Ruff also scratched veteran defenseman Luke Schenn and inserted rookie Zach Metsa, who scored the Sabres’ last goal, another power-play tally.
“Our top line had struggled,” Ruff said. “They had been good for such a long time. … But really felt it was just time to make a change. Met with the coaches and talked probably like you guys are talking. How can you break up this line? How can you break up that line?
“The bottom line is we just felt it would help a couple of our guys get going.”
It certainly worked. In addition to Thompson busting out, Quinn scored two of the Sabres’ four power-play goals.
Luukkonen stopped all 18 shots he faced after getting pulled from Thursday’s 6-3 home loss.
“Al wasn’t seeing it, just turn to UPL and see if he can help us out, and he did,” Ruff said. “From that point, he probably made, I thought four or five really good saves that kept them off the board.”
Clearly, the Sabres, who have looked out of whack in some games, especially at home, handled things calmly all night. For five months, they’ve put away good and bad games, usually showcasing a strong response to any adversity.
“It’s another game,” Thompson said. “The pressure was on them tonight. We were playing free.”
In the team meeting on Saturday morning, Ruff said he showed instances of indecision and slow play and used the expression “JFG” – “You could figure out what that is,” he said – to tell his players to get moving.
Dahlin said the Sabres “played with confidence.”
“I feel like we played loose,” he said.
Incredibly, the Sabres improved to 5-1 on the road this postseason. They’re 2-4 at home.
The Canadiens, meanwhile, are 5-2 on the road and 2-4 at home.
“We’re in the process of seeing if we can play here on Monday,” Ruff cracked.
But after staying off the ice Friday and Saturday morning, Ruff plans to stay away from the rink until Monday.
The routine worked, why not do it again?
“There’s a lot of pressure,” he said. “They feel it. I’m going to say 90-percent chance you won’t see us at the rink for the next day and a half before game time.”
Rookie center Konsta Helenius scored the Sabres’ other goal. Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes allowed six goals before Jacob Fowler replaced him late.
