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The Montreal Canadiens experienced a notable change in their game against the Buffalo Sabres, emphasizing the importance of 'space' on the ice. Despite outshooting the Sabres, they lost 4-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Canadiens find big difference against Sabres: āSpaceā originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
BUFFALO, N.Y. ā The Montreal Canadiens fired only nine shots on goal in their Game 7 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning just to advance and earn a trip to Buffalo for the Eastern Conference semifinal.
In Game 1 on Wednesday night, they looked a lot different, and it wasnāt a coincidence. They outshot the Sabres, even though that didnāt lead to a victory but instead a 4-2 defeat.
Still, Montreal saw more opportunities. They saw, in a word, āspace.ā
āI thought our top guys got more touches in space,ā St. Louis said after the game. āThatās what I liked.ā
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St. Louis framed at least some of what went wrong as bad luck, tough bounces and one bad 12-minute stretch in the second period.
Otherwise, he thought his players adjusted well to what Buffalo was doing.
The Montreal Canadiens lost to the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Canadiens outshot the Sabres in Game 1, but it did not result in a victory.
'Space' refers to the opportunities and room on the ice that the Canadiens noticed, which was a significant difference from their previous game.

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āIām confident that we can play any style,ā St. Louis said. āIām confident that we can play the team thatās in front of us. And Iām confident that we can learn from this one and be better.ā
In the previous series, Tampa Bay matched up its top defensive unit often with the top Montreal line. The Sabres arenāt doing that.
On the one hand, itās increased flexibility for Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff.
āItās comforting when I can say that I trust every line to play against everybody,ā Ruff said.
On the other hand, it means Montreal may have more opportunities to get matchups it likes for its top players.
āThey havenāt had this kind of space in two weeks,ā St. Louis said. āWe felt that was gonna be the case tonight.ā
The big boys did it on the power play for Montreal for the Canadiensā first goal, with Juraj Slafkovsky driving and dishing to a Nick Suzuki tap-in.
āSlafkovskyās one heck of a player,ā Ruff said.
The latter goal came from the bottom-six, a ridiculous rebound finish by Kirby Dach as he fell to the ice.
Around those goals, the Canadiens peppered Buffalo goalie Alex Lyon but just couldnāt finish. They had a couple chances on the doorstep that didnāt quite make their way across the line.
āWe could be a lot better,ā Ruff said. āThat includes taking time and ice away.ā
Visually, St. Louisā assessment seemed right, and his counterpart Ruff agreed. The Canadiens really did have space to work.
Whichever team manages that space better the rest of the series very well may be the one that moves on to the Eastern Conference Final.