The Buffalo Sabres evened their best-of-seven series with the Montreal Canadiens with a 3-2 victory at the Bell Centre on Tuesday, but it was likely not the blueprint that head coach Lindy Ruff wanted to follow. The Sabres repeated their undisciplined ways from Game 3, giving the Habs seven power plays, but Buffalo’s penalty killing and the goaltending of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen kept the game within range.
The fortunate bounce of a stanchion on a Tage Thompson shoot-in tied the game in the second period, and Zach Benson’s game-winner on the power-play early in third stood up, as Luukkonen made 12 of his 29 saves in the contest.
Buffalo went mostly with five defensemen on the night, as veteran Luke Schenn played only 7:04 in the contest, while rookie Konsta Helenius played close to 13 minutes and nearly scored twice, hitting the post and getting robbed by Montreal’s Jakub Dobes.
Other Sabres Stories
Canadiens Sluggish In Game 1 Loss
Head coach Lindy Ruff spoke to the media on Wednesday morning in Montreal, before the club boarded a flight for Buffalo.
Your thoughts on Game 4?
It was pretty good game. Thought we came out great. I thought we lost a lot of momentum on some questionable calls (and) thought we could have got some calls ourselves. We didn't, but we battled through all that and ended up winning the game.
Did you see any trends in the penalties that your team is taking?
I know Montreal's got a good power play, but I think they're going down easy……I think it's part of the playoffs. It is just how important a power play can be. So you get a stick on somebody, you got to be careful with your sticks. You know if they have a chance to make the play look worse than it is. They're going to. It's playoff hockey. Every team in this league does it, and it's an understanding that keep your stick off them. I mean the little push that (Tage) Thompson gave their player, I don't think that's called the regular season, but in the playoffs, it's called, so tell our guys not to do it.
What's your message to your team about maintaining composure?
We'll meet tomorrow morning, and just talk about what to expect. You can look at any series, Montreal's last series was win-a-game, lose-a-game. So you get pretty used to it. For us, a little bit of the same. You went to Boston, won a couple but then lost (and) had to go back to Boston again to win a game. You have to balance the victories and you have to be ready to reset and flush out the losses.
What do you think made Helenius ready for such a high-pressured debut in Game 4?
I think the experience he had with us earlier in the year, his experience and the great job that (Michael) Leone and his crew have done with him in Rochester to get ready to play. I watched all his D zone. A lot of times you have to teach a young player to stay in position support the puck. I thought he did a great job. He skated on pucks. He supported our breakouts really well. And I think that starts in the minors with all the people that are working with him. So they deserve a lot of credit.
Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo
THN.com/Free
