Zach Benson scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period of a 3-2 win for the visiting Buffalo Sabres against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference second-round series on Tuesday.
Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist and Josh Doan had two assists for the Sabres, who tied the series 2-2. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves.
Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield scored for the Canadiens, who got 19 saves from Jakub Dobes.
Game 5 is Thursday in Buffalo.
Benson, celebrating his 21st birthday, put Buffalo ahead 3-2 on the power play at 4:41 of the third period. Doan put a pass into the fringe of the crease for Benson, who shook off his defender to gather the puck and lift past Dobes’ glove.
“We’ve talked about our power play being good in key moments,” Benson said. “That’s what we did. We went out there, we executed. Heck of a slip pass by Doaner and my job was pretty easy from there, just putting it in the net.”
Mattias Samuelsson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 6:32 of the first period. Josh Norris dished a cross-ice pass to a crashing Samuelsson, who one-timed a snap shot inside the right post.
“I thought we got off to a tremendous start to the game,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We talked about getting off to a fast start and trying to quiet the building. The first eight minutes I thought might’ve been some of the best hockey we’ve played.”
The Sabres appeared to double their lead midway through the frame when Jack Quinn put a rebound into Dobes’ glove, which was in the net. The referees ruled it a goal after reviewing the play to determine if the puck completely crossed the goal line.
But then Montreal challenged for goaltender interference, and the goal was overturned, deeming Sabres forward Konsta Helenius impaired Dobes’ ability to play his position.
Newhook tied it 1-1 at 10:08 of the opening period. Ivan Demidov got the puck along the wall and sent it to Jake Evans, who was alone in front. Evans clanked it off the crossbar, then recovered the puck behind the net before feeding it to Newhook in front.
Caufield put the Canadiens ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal with 13 seconds left in the first. He received the puck along the goal line and took it toward Luukkonen before sliding it under the goalie’s left pad.
“Special teams played a huge part,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “It’s hard to believe that we only got one goal on the power play because I felt like we had a lot of chances. You’ve got to tip your cap to the goalie (Luukkonen); he played a good game.”
Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki added: “We battled our way back to get the lead in the first, and then I thought the second period we controlled it pretty well. We just couldn’t find that next goal.”
Thompson pulled Buffalo even seven minutes into the second period. He dumped the puck into the left corner from center ice. It hit the top of the boards before bouncing towards the net, going off the side of Dobes’ right pad and into the net to make it 2-2 in stunning fashion.
“Off the stanchion? No, not like that, but I’ll take it,” Thompson said of scoring a goal in that way.
“We didn’t get in the first couple break-ins on the power play, and (when) you do that, sometimes you want to just keep it simple, rim it and try to get on the forecheck,” he said. “I rimmed it and obviously saw it hit the glass and saw, kind of just scanning around looking for it. And a few guys put their hands up. So, it’s a nice feeling when you see that.”
–Field Level Media
