Suzuki, Canadiens ‘shocked’ by Game 6 loss to Sabres

MONTREAL — When the final horn wailed through the cavernous Bell Centre on Saturday, when the Montreal Canadiens somehow had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, captain Nick Suzuki looked up at the giant center ice video screen and saw the 8-3 score in favor of the visiting Buffalo Sabres.

It all seemed so surreal.

Just 10:14 into this same contest, Game 6 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round, the Canadiens had found themselves up 3-1. The noise was deafening. With Montreal up 3-2 in the series, a date with the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final seemed almost a sure thing.

Until it wasn’t.

Seven consecutive Sabres goals later, here was Suzuki, skating off the ice, trying to process what had just happened.

“I was shocked,” he said afterward. “Pretty shocked.”

So were his teammates.

So were the 20,962 fans in attendance.

And so, for that matter, were the thousands who were gathered in the streets for watch parties outside the arena, poised to turn downtown Montreal into one festive bleu-blanc-rouge celebration.

Except the Sabres spoiled the party, leaving the Canadiens and their rabid supporters somewhat numb.

“It was 3-1 in the first period, and it ended 8-3. That’s disappointing for sure,” Suzuki said. “At points in the second and third, it kind of got out of reach …

“It’s probably the worst game we’ve played. So we’re only going up. And I think it’s going to be important for guys to look at themselves in the mirror and say we’ve got an opportunity to win one game and advance to the third round.

“So we’ll take that any time throughout the season.”

There’s the rub.

The Canadiens have been here before.

Up 3-2 in a best-of-7 series. A chance to advance to the next round with a win in the NHL nuthouse that serves as their home arena.

And then …

Disappointment.

It happened in the Eastern Conference First Round when they lost Game 6, 1-0 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning, forcing a Game 7 in Tampa which they won 2-1.

One round later, here they are again, heading to a Game 7 after losing Game 6 on home ice, this time to the Sabres.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Now their season again is on the line when they take to the ice at KeyBank Center for the seventh and deciding game in this wacky back-and-forth series on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC). On the line for the winner: a matchup with the Hurricanes.

“I feel like we’ve been good at bouncing forward, and that’s what we intend to do,” coach Martin St. Louis said.

“Bouncing forward” is one of St. Louis’ go-to phrases. How did he come up with it?

“I just feel (the phrase) ‘bounce back,’ you come back to where you were,” he explained. “‘Bounce forward,’ you’re actually further than where you were.

“It’s physics,” he added, causing those gathered at his postgame press conference to chuckle.

As for Game 6 itself, it was no laughing matter for the Canadiens.

In the end, they were outclassed in almost every aspect of the game. Buffalo was superior in a number of key categories, including goals (8-3), shots (36-22), blocked shots (18-9) and face-offs won (34-22).

“I think we just let our foot off the gas for whatever reason,” defenseman Lane Hutson said. “It was a combination of no puck management, giving them too much space. But there shouldn’t be that much difference. We try to play the same game.”

Hutson said lessons learned from Game 7 versus Tampa Bay will be vital. Montreal won that game by overcoming the adversity of having gone 26:55 without a shot on goal before Alex Newhook scored the winner in the third period.

“We were fortunate to have the chance to play that game,” he said. “And we definitely expect more from us in this Game 7. 

“The way we played in that one probably won’t advance us (this time) but we’re excited to show what we can do.”

In a weird quirk, both of these teams have found home ice to be more of a hindrance than an advantage. Consider that through these playoffs thus far, the Canadiens are 5-2 on the road, the Sabres 5-1.

“You know, it’s disappointing to have this effort on home ice,” Suzuki said. “And we can’t let that be our last game here. So we have to do everything we can to forget about it and be ready for Game 7.”

By that time, the shock of Game 6 should have worn off.

For the Canadiens sake, it had better.