BUFFALO – Right now, things look bleak for the Sabres. After all, they’re staring down elimination following Thursday’s ugly 6-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
With a chance to go up 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, the Sabres blew three leads before the game hit the halfway mark in KeyBank Center. One lasted nine seconds.
They imploded in the second period, allowing three goals and forcing coach Lindy Ruff to pull goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Of course, the Sabres had already suffered back-to-back four-goal losses earlier in the second-round series. How did they respond? By winning 3-2 on Tuesday at the Bell Centre and evening the series.
They’re 4-1 on the road and just 2-4 at home in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 6 is Saturday in Montreal.
“If our road play is what we need to carry us through this, then we go to Montreal and we win a game, and we come back,” Ruff said. “And when we come back, we’re gonna pretend we’re on the road.”
If the Sabres perform like they did on Thursday, they won’t force a Game 7 on Monday at home. One of the wildest and most entertaining seasons in their 56-year history will be over.
At times early in Game 5, it felt like they might clobber the Canadiens as goalie Jakub Dobes fought the puck early.
But the Canadiens kept responding before the raucous capacity crowd of 19,070 fans. The Sabres led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 by the 10:15 mark, when rookie center Konsta Helenius scored his first playoff goal in his second career outing.
As Dobes struggled – he surely wanted Helenius’ shot from the right circle back – the Sabres passed up too many shots, failing to exploit the rookie.
Meanwhile, the Sabres showcased porous defense.
Sabres winger Alex Tuch, who’s pointless in the series after scoring four goals and seven points in the first round, said the Canadiens “pushed harder than we did” over the final 40 minutes.
“We gave them opportunities and chances and on ours, we didn’t bear down and not the best puck play by us,” he said. “And yeah, we got outworked.”
Josh Anderson tied the game at 3 8:01 into the second period. Jake Evans gave the Canadiens their first lead at 16:15, capitalizing after Ivan Demidov’s shot from the right circle trickled through Luukkonen’s arm.
“I was kind of expecting him to go under, but he got on top of there,” said Luukkonen, who stopped 18 of the 23 shots he faced before Alex Lyon replaced him in the third period. “It’s no excuse to let it drop there. One of those details that costs you games. It shouldn’t be happening.”
Nick Suzuki scored a power-play goal later in the period before Demidov scored on the man advantage early in the third.
Luukkonen said the Sabres “just got too comfortable” in the second period.
“I don’t think it’s anything too crazy,” he said. “I’ve got to be better. The whole team has to be better. I don’t think it’s much more complicated than that.”
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said the Canadiens “rolled over us pretty heavy there in the second.”
“They’re just quick on the puck the whole time, and just kept it down low in our end, and it’s hard to find the rhythm when the other team is doing that,” he said.
Now, which goalie will Ruff utilize for Game 6? Luukkonen and Lyon have shared time throughout the season, often forming a dynamic tandem.
Luukkonen took over for Lyon on Tuesday following back-to-back losses. Lyon replaced Luukkonen in Game 2 of the opening round and established himself as one of the top goalies in the playoffs.
Counting Thursday’s relief appearance – he stopped two of the three shots he faced – he has compiled a 4-3 record with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in nine games.
Meanwhile, Luukkonen, who starred in Game 4, has registered a 2-2 mark with a 4.20 goals-against average and an .851 save percentage in four outings.
Ruff defended the Finn’s performance in Game 5.
“There’s nothing he could’ve done on the first goal,” he said. “There’s nothing he could’ve done on the second goal. I think the (Evans) 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 (to pull him earlier), 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.”
Sabres defenseman Owen Power briefly left the game in the third period after sliding feet first into the boards.
“It’s encouraging that he came back and he played a couple shifts, so we’ll see how he feels in the morning,” Ruff said.
Winger Jason Zucker opened the scoring for the Sabres, his first goal this postseason. Winger Josh Doan also tallied.
