Advantage Habs! Canadiens ride dominant second to beat the Sabres 6-2, take 2-1 series lead

Montreal Canadiens' Cole Caufield (13) celebrates his goal with teammates Lane Hutson (48), Juraj Slafkovsky (20), Nick Suzuki (14) and Ivan Demidov (93) during second period second round, Game 3, NHL playoff action against the Buffalo Sabres, in Montreal on Sunday, May 10, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

“You gotta take the moment,” said Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis before Game 3 at the Bell Centre.

The moment, simply put, was taken on Sunday night as St-Louis’ Habs overcame an early hiccup to gobble the moment in a 6-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres in the best-of-seven second round series of the NHL playoffs.

The Habs now have the advantage and are in the driving seat of the “who gets to play the Carolina Hurricanes” sweepstakes.

Early hiccup

Things started more blue-white-yellow than bleu-blanc-rouge.

After being shut out for the series, 40-goal, 41-assist Sabre centre Tage Thompson tapped in a gimme to put the visitors up in the first minute of the game.

Any fears of the Sabres doing what the Habs did two nights ago and adding to their lead were erased, however, at 15:31 when Alex Newhook scored his fourth of the playoffs, bouncing a shot in off Buffalo defenceman Conor Timmins and past Alex Lyon.

“I think we were able to bounce back pretty good after the first goal against, and I think after that we were able to roll them over,” said Newhook after the game.

‘You gotta get up and you gotta make saves’

In the second period, a Josh Doan tripping penalty would give the Habs the opportunity to pull ahead.

After missing a chance with more sunlight shining from the net than a mid-summer Sahara desert day, sniper Cole Caufield erased the metaphorical milk carton missing player meme and scored his second of the playoffs to put Montreal ahead.

It was his second goal of the playoffs (both on the power play).

Then, after outshooting the Sabres 22-13, Zachary Buldoc made the 23rd shot of the night count and snapped home a wrister from the hashmarks for his second goal and sixth point of the playoffs.

Things continued to be chippy and physical with both teams ready to knock bodies, snap jaws and push the boundaries of legality.

At 11:32, Sabre Beck Malenstyn then crashed into Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes and picked up an interference penalty.

“You just stand up, take it to the chin, and they had a chance right after,” said Dobes. “You gotta get up and you gotta make saves.”

Montreal again made the visitors pay when Juraj Slafkovsky tipped in a point shot from Lane Hutson behind Lyon and put the home team up 4-1.

It was the Slovakian’s first goal since scoring a hat trick in the first game of the first round against Tampa Bay.

From the 2022 no. 1 pick to the 2018 no. 1 pick, Rasmus Dahlin pulled one back for the Sabres when the captain snapped a point shot past Dobes on the power play after Kirby Dach got sent to the bin for holding the stick.

Let it rain

The rain started to fall to start the third period, soaking the thousands of fans who crowded around the massive screens outside of the Bell Centre, but there would be no raining on any Montreal parade on Mother’s Day.

While it rained outside, the Sabres rained shots at Dobes in the early minutes of the third. The rookie Czech stopper, however, stood tall and weathered the storm.

No one has been able to solve Dobes in a third period since Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It’s so much fun and I’m just happy that the fans are having fun with this, as much as we do,” said Dobes. “No complaints today. Everything is good.”

At 8:46, fortune favoured the Dach, who took advantage of Lyon’s mishandling of a rebound off the boards and scored his fourth of the playoffs.

Newhook was then awarded an empty net goal with just under five minutes left in the game.

Final score: 6-2.

‘I will go home, eat, watch Game of Thrones’

Dobes was coy after the game about the cult status he’s developing between the pipes.

“I’m not a hero,” he said. “I’m just me. I’m just a goofy goalie who tries to stop pucks... Trust me, I will go home, eat, watch Game of Thrones and go to bed. I don’t think that’s anything heroic.”

Game four is on Tuesday night.