Canadiens tested by mistakes, slow start in Game 1 of East 2nd Round loss to Sabres

BUFFALO — Lane Hutson, like the rest of his Montreal Canadiens, wanted to get off to a good start in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round against the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday.

They did anything but.

Less than five minutes into Game 1, the Canadiens star defenseman blew a tire and fell on his rump, resulting in a 3-on-1 that ended with a Josh Doan goal.

By 13:26 of the first period, Ryan McLeod upped Buffalo’s lead to 2-0 and gave the Canadiens a wake-up call.

One that served notice that this is going to be an entirely different series than their seven-game elimination of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference First Round.

“I didn’t think we played poorly. I just think we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said after the Sabres' 4-2 victory.

“There we were, down 2-0, and you’re just trying to claw your way back.”

Consider this: not once in seven games against the Lightning did the Canadiens trail by two or more goals.

Compare that to Wednesday, when Montreal found itself down by three less than halfway through the game, thanks to Bowen Byram’s power-play goal at 9:01 of the second period that put the Sabres up 4-1.

Uncharted territory.

One the Canadiens had yet to experience this spring.

For example, Hutson’s early loss of balance, as accidental as it was, likely was a bigger mistake than the 22-year-old committed during the entire Tampa series.

He wasn’t alone in his struggles in this night.

Take forward Cole Caufield, who scored 51 times during the regular season. He’s done it only once in eight playoff games this spring and has just 14 shots in that span.

In goal, first-round star Jakub Dobes surrendered as many goals against the Sabres (four) as he did in the final three games against the Lightning.

Then there’s rookie forward Ivan Demidov, who is finding out just how much less real estate there is to maneuver out on the ice in the playoffs than there is in the regular season. While the 20-year-old had an assist, three shots and some decent looks against the Sabres, he’s yet to score in 13 career postseason games, which includes eight in this current run.

Add it all up, and the Canadiens find themselves down 1-0 in the series heading into Game 2 at KeyBank Center on Friday (7 p.m. ET: HBO MAX, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC). 

“I think, at this time of year, if you’re not getting production throughout your whole lineup, it’s going to be tough to win games,” forward Kirby Dach, who scored Montreal’s second goal, said. “We’re confident in every line and the six D-men we roll out there every night are able to produce.

“For us, it’s just playing our brand, and playing our game and setting our standard out there.”

Not all was gloom and doom for the visitors. They had 28 shots on net, 19 more than in their Game 7 victory against the Lightning, including an 11-1 advantage in the third period when they were pressing to slice into Buffalo’s two-goal lead.

“I felt like we had the puck the whole time in that (third) period,” Suzuki said. “When we play fast and we play together, and we’re a cohesive unit, we’re tough to play against.

“But I don’t think we played like that early on.”

As a result, Buffalo pounced on them from the get go.

For his part, Montreal coach Martin St. Louis saw enough encouraging signs between the gaffes to maintain belief heading into Game 2.

“I’m confident we can play any style,” St. Louis said. "I’m confident we can play the game in front of us, and I’m confident we can learn from this.”

To the coach’s point: the Canadiens have yet to lose back-to-back games this postseason.

It’s a trend he and his team would like to continue on Friday.