Canadiens Hold Destiny In Their Hands Versus Sabres

Montreal had seven powerplay opportunities, and managed to score on just one, whereas the Sabres scored twice in four man advantages.

A little more traffic in front of the Sabres netminder would likely yield additional second-chance scoring opportunities, but for the most part, they’re generating a reasonable number quality scoring chances on the powerplay. They simply lacked finish on Tuesday.

As for his captain, it’s worth noting the first line had a dominant game from a statistical standpoint. While Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Cole Caufield were on the ice, the Habs controlled over 80% of the shots and 75% of the high-danger scoring chances. It was a good game from a process standpoint, but now that the Canadiens are in the second round of the playoffs, the results are more important than solid underlying numbers.

The first line has to start to produce, and they have no grace period left to get there.

Fortunately, all signs point to that trio being ready to explode from an offensive standpoint.

For the third comment, in regard to their poor start, you would be hard-pressed to disagree with the head coach, but it’s also fair to say that falls under the preparation category, and that duty belongs, at least in part, to the coaching staff.

Truth be told, there’s always room for improvement, but all things considered, the Canadiens being two wins away from the Eastern Conference Final just a few years into their rebuild is incredibly encouraging.

And if they can continue to be a dominant goal-scoring force at 5v5, they’ll go a long way in gaining a crucial advantage in the remaining three-game series, but they’ll need a little help from their special teams friends to achieve this impressive feat.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics via Natural Stat Trick.

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