Canadiens 5-1 Final
Series tied 1-1
Game report
Montreal closed this one with the kind of cold, methodical certainty that never raises its voice because it doesn’t have to. A 3–0 stranglehold late in the second became a full 5–1 dismissal by the final horn, the Canadiens stacking goals the way a veteran card sharp stacks chips — early, often, and without apology.
Newhook’s pair set the tone, Matheson’s snapper deepened the bruise, and by the time Buffalo finally broke the shutout in the dying seconds of the middle frame, the game already felt embalmed. Montreal owned the middle of the ice, owned the pace, owned the mood. They didn’t just outscore Buffalo; they out‑behaved them.
The Sabres never found the oxygen they needed. Every attempted push was met with Montreal’s structure snapping shut like a steel trap. Carrier’s early parade to the penalty box didn’t help, nor did the Sabres’ inability to turn four power plays into anything resembling danger.
When Carrier gifted Montreal a fourth goal early in the third, unassisted no less, the rest of the night became bookkeeping. Suzuki’s empty‑netter was just the signature at the bottom of a document Buffalo had been forced to sign all evening. If this series was heating up, Montreal just turned the burner to high and left Buffalo staring at the pot.
