The Buffalo Sabres evened their second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens with a gutsy victory on Tuesday night.
Zach Benson scored the winner and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 28 shots as the Sabres held off the Canadiens 3-2 in an intense Game 4 of long reviews, weird bounces and numerous penalties, tying the second-round playoff matchup at two games apiece.
Mattias Samuelsson and Tage Thompson — on a fortuitous deflection — also scored for Buffalo, as the Sabres responded after dropping Games 2 and 3 by a combined score of 11-3. Josh Doan added two assists, while Thompson had one helper for a two-point night.
Luukkonen stood tall in his first appearance since a Game 2 loss in the opening round against Boston. He replaced Alex Lyon after the back-to-back lopsided defeats.
Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield replied for Montreal, which went 1-for-7 on the power play. Jakub Dobes made 19 saves.
The series shifts back to Buffalo for Game 5 on Thursday night before returning to the Bell Centre for Game 6 on Saturday.
Benson put the Sabres ahead 3-2 with a power-play goal 4:41 into the third when he shovelled a backhand past Dobes’s glove from the edge of the blue paint while Jake Evans sat in the penalty box for holding.
The Canadiens had failed to capitalize on a four-minute man advantage late in the second into the third period, with Luukkonen denying Ivan Demidov and Nick Suzuki missing the net on a Grade A chance.
Later in the third, Dobes slid across his crease to rob Konsta Helenius on a 2-on-1, dropping his stick to make the save and breathe life into the Bell Centre.
Dobes denied Helenius again with under three minutes left, this time stopping him with the blocker to keep it a one-goal game.
The Canadiens goalie then left his net for an extra attacker with two minutes remaining but Montreal couldn’t muster a quality chance before time ran out.
The renowned Bell Centre atmosphere, earning praise on social media across Canada and south of the border this week, was jacked up following Sunday’s win and hit another deafening peak before puck drop after the energy rattled the Sabres in Game 3.
This time, Guy Carbonneau — the captain the last time the Canadiens won the Cup in 1993 — carried the ceremonial torch into the lower bowl. Cheers then hit ear-splitting decibels when Dobes was announced in the starting lineup before the crackling crowd sang “O Canada” in full voice.
But the visitors opened the scoring 6:32 into the first period when Samuelsson finished a pretty passing play with Josh Norris and Doan on the rush, with the Sabres dominating the shots 8-1 early.
A strange sequence followed less than two minutes later as Jack Quinn’s scoring chance, which Dobes initially appeared to stop, was ruled a goal and then taken away on a pair of reviews.
Quinn sent a shot into Dobes’s glove off a rebound, leading to a whistle. The officials reviewed the play late in the ensuing TV break, ruling Dobes’s glove crossed the line with the puck.
Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, however, successfully challenged for goalie interference because Helenius made contact with Dobes before Quinn’s attempt, sending the crowd into a frenzy after the 10-minute delay.
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The turn of events completely swung the momentum as red-hot Newhook tied the game at 10:08, converting a pass from Jake Evans for his fifth goal in three games.
Caufield then gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead with 13 seconds left in the opening period, slipping a cheeky shot between Luukkonen’s legs on the power play after Thompson took a needless cross-checking penalty.
Luukkonen responded early in the second with two stellar saves on Caufield during another Canadiens power play, denying him from the slot before stretching out the pad on a one-timer.
Thompson then scored on a fluky dump-in from centre ice to tie the game on the power play seven minutes into the middle frame. Instead of rolling along the boards behind the net, the puck bounced off an edge in the corner and redirected off Dobes’s pad and in.
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