Canadiens Preview: Potential Lineup Changes In G1 Vs Sabres

Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

The Montreal Canadiens (4-3) will face the Buffalo Sabres (4-2) in Game 1 of their series on Wednesday, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.

The Canadiens needed seven games to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first-round series, with netminder Jakub Dobes serving as their most valuable player. The Sabres only required six games to eliminate the Boston Bruins, with goaltender Alex Lyon also providing a stalwart effort while guarding the net.

With that in mind, the series is not expected to be a particularly high-scoring affair, but there’s a healthy chance some of the games in the second-round series will feature more scoring chances than previous matchups.

Statistically speaking, the gap between the Canadiens and the Sabres isn’t as pronounced as the one between the Habs and the Lightning, which means that head coach Martin St-Louis’ team may be facing a difficult challenge in the second round, but not an impossible one.

As per usual, the team that gets off to the best start in Game 1 will capture a significant advantage going forward, and given that they’re both young, talented clubs, the first period of the first game may go a long way in dictating the overall winner of the series.

Potential Lineup Changes

St-Louis is holding his cards close to his chest, but based off reports at practice, it seems that will return to the lineup. Xhekaj is a physical player, but he also produced some of the best underlying numbers in the first round, a reminder that players tend to excel when they’re given some semblance of consistency from the coaching staff.