Canadiens push top line problem aside to bounce back vs. Sabres originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Montreal Canadiens still haven’t gotten production from their top-line players.
But on this night, the rest of the roster proved it was up to the task in seizing a massive bounceback win in Buffalo over the Sabres by a 5-1 score on Friday night.
The Eastern Conference semifinals are now knotted at a game apiece as the next two contests will be played in Montreal.
The Canadiens did get a late goal from a top-line player when Nick Suzuki scored an empty-netter, but before that, it was the unsung players doing the goal scoring.
Alex Newhook scored twice. He had been the hero in Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and on this night, he notched his first career multi-goal playoff game.
The first goal opened the scoring, and the second made it 3-0 early in the second period.
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In between, the defenseman Mike Matheson slotted an impressive shot between multiple defenders and over Alex Lyon’s right shoulder for the first goal of this postseason for the defenseman.
Montreal allowed Buffalo to pull one back late in the second with Zach Benson, but the Habs seized momentum right back early in the third.
Alexandre Carrier pressured Tage Thompson into a turnover that sent Carrier in alone on goalie Alex Lyon. Carrier didn’t miss.
That made it 4-1, and Buffalo couldn’t mount enough pressure to get back in the game before Suzuki’s empty-netter really wrapped it up.
In Game 1, when the Canadiens lost 4-2, they had scored with their top guns on the power play but only scored at even strength down the lineup with Kirby Dach.
This time around, the likes of Newhook, Matheson and Carrier were the ones who saved Montreal.
The Habs won’t make a deeper playoff run without more from Suzuki, Cole Caufield (who crushed the crossbar on a shot) and Juraj Slafkovsky.
But good teams also need their lesser players to step up occasionally to win hockey games. That’s what these guys did for the Canadiens on Friday night in Buffalo.
