MTL@BUF: Game recap | Game 5

BUFFALO – The Canadiens trailed for much of the first period, but scored four unanswered goals on their way to a 6-3 win in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead over the Sabres at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki each enjoyed three-point nights, while Ivan Demidov scored his first career playoff goal in the win. Jake Evans’ second-period tally stood as the winner – it was his first postseason marker since June 2021.

Phillip Danault was a monster in the faceoff dot, winning 14 of his 18 draws on the night while putting up a pair of assists. Five different Canadiens defensemen logged 20 minutes of ice time or more, and Jakub Dobes turned aside 33 of 36 Buffalo shots – tied for the second-highest shots total he’s faced this postseason.

For more stats, check out the NHL’s Gamecenter summary here.

Roster

Montreal goals 

P1 06:31 [1]-1 Caufield (Suzuki, Slafkovsky)

P1 07:54 [2]-3 Texier (Carrier, Danault)

P2 08:01 [3]-3 Anderson (Hutson, Danault)

P2 16:15 [4]-3 Evans (Demidov, Newhook)

P2 17:33 [5]-3 Suzuki (Slafkovsky, Hutson) – PPG

P3 03:32 [6]-3 Demidov (Slafkovsky, Suzuki) – PPG

Buffalo goals

P1 02:00 0-[1] Zucker (Quinn, Timmins)

P1 07:45 1-[2] Doan (Power)

P1 10:15 2-[3] Helenius (Samuelsson, Dahlin)

What’s next

The Habs will have their first chance to knock out the Sabres in Game 6, which takes place on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. at the Bell Centre.