Sabres vs. Canadiens - Game 1 | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

Round 1 was quite a ride for the Sabres and their fans, a rollercoaster that started with an exhilarating comeback at home and ended with a bounce-back win on the road. There was a blowout win, an overtime loss, and plenty of memorable moments in-between.

Let’s do it all again, shall we?

The Sabres host Game 1 of their second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday at KeyBank Center. It will be a renewal of yet another longtime division rivalry, this one dating back to the Sabres’ first-ever playoff series in 1973.

This latest chapter finds Buffalo and Montreal at similar points: two young, balanced, highly skilled teams coming off series wins over longtime division frontrunners.

The Sabres dispatched the Bruins in six games, led by a dominant showing from goaltender Alex Lyon. He allowed just five goals in five games beginning with his relief appearance in Game 2, posting a playoff-best .955 save percentage.

The Canadiens also received a strong performance from second-year goalie Jakub Dobes, who started all seven games against the Lightning and had a .923 save percentage. Their lineup is headlined by 50-goal scorer Cole Caufield and star defenseman Lane Hutson.

Find plenty more on the matchup in our Round 2 preview.

The puck drops tonight at 7 p.m. Here’s what you need to know in the meantime.

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How to watch

TV (national): TNT, truTV

Streaming (national): HBO Max

Radio: WGR 550 / Buffalo Sabres App (Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray on the call)

Pregame and Postgame Shows featuring Brian Duff and Martin Biron will air on MSG and the Sabres App along with the team's X, Facebook and YouTube channels. The pregame show begins at 6:30 p.m.

Lineup notes (updated 6:45 p.m.)

The Sabres are starting with the same lineup from the end of the Boston series, plus Logan Stanley, who's back on the third pair after missing Game 6 due to illness. Alex Lyon starts again in net.

Sam Carrick (left arm) was a possibility to return for Game 1, but he's out Wednesday and is still considered day to day. Tyson Kozak will continue to center the fourth line in Carrick's place.

Here's the full projected lineup:

Morning media

Zach Benson on facing Montreal as a native of Canada (British Columbia):

“Any Canadian kid dreams of playing against the Habs, regular season or playoffs. But I think playoffs just intensifies it that much more. … You know the Bell Centre’s gonna be electric, so it’s gonna be a pretty cool series.”

Lindy Ruff on the Sabres playing to their strengths:

“We’re not gonna try to copy Tampa, or watch film and say, ‘Boy, if we do what this player did for Tampa, we’re gonna be a lot better team.’ We were a good team playing our game. We probably started the last series off not quite on our game, and we’ve got to get to our game a lot quicker in this series than we did.”

Scouting the Habs

This has the potential to be a very different series stylistically than the one we saw against Boston.

The Bruins aimed to clog the neutral zone, pack the net-front, and drag the Sabres into a physical contest. They were successful to a degree – five of the six games were tightly contested and required patience on the Sabres’ behalf.

The Canadiens’ identity is built on speed. They ranked seventh in the NHL with 73 rush goals during the regular season, according to Stathletes. (The Sabres led the league in that department with 85.)

Both Buffalo and Montreal also ranked in the top half of the league in preventing rush goals, so seeing which team is better able to limit the other’s transition will be a storyline worth watching.