The Buffalo Sabres answered back in their second-round playoff series Tuesday night, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 at Bell Centre behind a clutch third-period goal from Zach Benson. Buffalo improved to 8-4 this postseason and evened the series at 2-2 after Benson scored the game-winner on his 21st birthday with 15:19 remaining in regulation.
Benson continued his breakout postseason by controlling a pass from Josh Doan with his skate in front of the net before slipping a backhand shot past Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobes on the power play. The goal capped another standout performance for Buffalo’s young core, with Doan collecting two assists and Tage Thompson finishing with a goal and an assist.
The Sabres came out flying early, dominating the opening minutes and grabbing a 1-0 lead on Mattias Samuelsson’s first-period goal. Buffalo briefly appeared to take a 2-0 lead after Jack Quinn pushed a loose puck across the line, but a lengthy review overturned the goal for goalie interference. Momentum quickly shifted after the reversal as Montreal answered with two goals, including Cole Caufield’s power-play tally in the final seconds of the opening period.
Buffalo settled back in during the second half of the game behind a resilient defensive effort. Thompson tied the game on a fortunate power-play bounce midway through the second period, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 28 shots in his first start since Round 1.
The Sabres also killed six of seven penalties and blocked 27 shots to preserve the victory.
The series shifts back to Buffalo for Game 5 on Thursday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at KeyBank Center.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].