MONTREAL – How crazy might it get tonight inside the Bell Centre?
The NHL’s largest rink becomes raucous on a weeknight in November. How loud might the more than 21,000 fans get for Game 3 of the second-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs between their beloved Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres?
“Our building’s been great,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said this morning in the 4 Seasons Hotel Montreal. “I think theirs will be equal, and I’ve been in this building before in the playoffs, and the energy is incredible. I think it’s something you’ve got to embrace.
“You get to play in one of hockey’s hotbed and you get to play in the playoffs, and the crowd is going to be tremendous.”
Sabres winger Beck Malenstyn said he expects “an electric atmosphere.”
“You play here on a Saturday night in the regular season and it feels like the roof’s gonna come off,” he said. “So I can’t imagine it’s going to be any different, if not louder.”
The Sabres, fresh off Friday’s 5-1 home loss, a game in which they trailed 2-0 by the 4:27 mark, could change their lineup tonight with the best-of-seven series tied at 1.
Ruff, of course, wouldn’t confirm anything, only saying, “Everybody’s available right now.”
He said Center Tyson Kozak, who missed Saturday’s practice for maintenance, “could be available.”
After missing the last 15 games with a left arm injury, center Sam Carrick, who on Saturday practiced in Kozak’s spot alongside Malenstyn and Jordan Greenway, could play tonight.
Check back later for more on Carrick.
Goalie Alex Lyon is expected to make his seventh straight start.
When asked about tonight’s starting goalie, Ruff named all three on the roster.
“It’s gonna be (Colten) Ellis, (Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen) or Lyon,” he joked.
Lyon, who relieved Luukkonen in Game 2 of the Sabres’ first-round series against the Boston Bruins, hadn’t started six consecutive games since the first six of the regular season.
Ruff said Lyon has handled the heavy workload “really well.”
“I’ve had conversations with him, he feels good,” he said Saturday in Buffalo. “I know he’s seen a great number of starts which is unusual for us, but at the same time, we wouldn’t hesitate to put UPL in there.”
Lyon has registered a 3-0 record with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .960 save percentage in three road outings this postseason.