What are the keys to victory for Canadiens, Sabres?
After multiple days of rest for both teams, the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres are set to get their second-round series started at the KeyBank Center in Western New York on Wednesday night.
The Sabres are fresh off a six-game series victory over the Boston Bruins that saw them close out their division rival in convincing fashion after shaking off a sluggish start, while the Canadiens finished off the Tampa Bay Lightning in a Game 7 that saw them get drastically outplayed.
Can the young, energetic Habs continue to find their footing on the road against the other powerhouse the Atlantic Division had to offer this season?
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed what each team needs to do from the get-go in this series to give themselves the best chance to go to the conference final.
Tyler Yaremchuk: It’s game one between the Sabres and the Canadiens tonight from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Let’s get set for this one. Some quick notes: Noah Dobson being back for the Montreal Canadians is going to be massive. They obviously didn’t have him for the first six games of their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. So Dobson being back and presumably closer to 100% is going to be massive… This guy will play 23 plus minutes a night for this blue line and just ease some pressure everywhere else in their lineup. But give me a key to victory for maybe each side as we head into this one.
Carter Hutton: I think the forecheck for the Buffalo Sabres. Like they created the most chances off the forecheck in that first round against the Boston Bruins, but the other side effect is like the depth, and I think the buy-in for the Sabres is important, but now you’re not going against the Boston Bruins’ D-core. You’re going against Montreal Canadians who have a lot more puck-moving defense, and I think the pressure on Dobson who you mentioned earlier. Lane Hutson is really going to come into effect, and I think for the Sabres it’s just being that relentless mentality, right? If you have the home-ice advantage, now use it, because I thought in the first round they didn’t play as well at the KeyBank center as I thought they could have. So I think that’s going to be a big storyline here, and then the other one for me is the goalies, right? It’s always the highlight of the goalies. I know I’m a goalie, but it is the NHL playoffs and it’s going to be an important factor. Where does Jakub Dobes go from after that seven-game series? Is there that decompression where we watched in the Philadelphia Flyers come out playing a game one, Minnesota Wild playing a game one after tough first-round series. So I think that’s the highlight tonight. And then if it goes south, do we see [Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen], Ty?
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…