For the first time in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves trailing in a series, and that may have head coach Lindy Ruff looking to shake up his lineup.
After securing Game 1 convincingly at home, the Sabres have now lost two games two in a row in the Atlantic Division clash with the Montreal Canadiens. In the last two contests, the Sabres have looked outmatched, searching for a way to get back to the formula that garnered them a division title at the close of the regular season.
Montreal has taken control of the best-of-seven series with back-to-back dominant wins.
After a 5-1 victory in game two in Buffalo, the Canadiens overcame an early 1–0 deficit and rode the energy of the home Bell Centre crowd to a 6-2 triumph on Sunday night in game three.
“The place was loud tonight, “ said center Tage Thompson. “You feel the energy. You could feel they had momentum off of it. That’s just something that we gotta get used to. Something that can’t affect us, any of the outside noise. It’s about everyone in this room and just getting to our game. Everyone in this room has better. We still haven’t gotten to what I think is our best game. “
Defensive mistakes and costly penalties have doomed the Sabres in each of the last two games.
Buffalo will need to bring their best to swing the series back in their favor in game four on Tuesday.
“Obviously, it starts with me,” continued Thompson. It starts with me, Dahls (Rasmus Dahlin), Tuchy (Alex Tuch). There’s more in the tank, there’s more we can do. Another level we can get to. We just gotta find it. “
There is no looking back, the Sabres must focus on what is ahead, just as they did when they put together a five-month stretch starting in December that saved their season and earned them a postseason berth.
“Playoffs is about the next game,” said head coach Lindy Ruff. “It’s not about the past one. The only thing we can control now is game four. We’ve answered a lot of questions this year about tough situations and adversity early in the year. Even after our ten-game winning streak, a terrible game in Columbus. We’ve put together six game-winning streaks and three game. I’m really confident in the group. It’s all about tomorrow.”
The Sabres simply cannot fall into a two-game hole and must find a way to get the series back to even before returning to KeyBank Center for Game 5 on Thursday.
At the morning skate in Montreal, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was in the starter’s net, and rookie Konsta Helenius and defenseman Luke Schenn were in line and pairing rushes, It appears as if Luukkonen will make the start, and Schenn could be replacing Logan Stanley, whose errant pass in the second period led to Zach Bolduc’s goal. Helenius could be replacing Sam Carrick, who was knocked down by an Arber Xhekaj punch after the final whistle.
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