Montréal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres

2nd Round, Game 1 · May 6, 2026 · KeyBank Center

Team	Goals	Shots
Montréal Canadiens	2	28
Buffalo Sabres	4	16

Scoring

Time	Team	Goal	Assists	Score
1st Period
04:31	BUF	Josh Doan (2)	Zach Benson (2)	0 - 1
13:26	BUF	Ryan McLeod (1) PP	Zach Benson (3), Josh Doan (3)	0 - 2
19:16	MTL	Nick Suzuki (2) PP	Juraj Slafkovský (1), Ivan Demidov (2)	1 - 2
2nd Period
03:32	BUF	Jordan Greenway (1)	Mattias Samuelsson (1)	1 - 3
09:01	BUF	Bowen Byram (4) PP	Ryan McLeod (2)	1 - 4
16:31	MTL	Kirby Dach (3)	Zachary Bolduc (4)	2 - 4

Penalties

Time	Team	Player	Penalty	Min
1st Period
00:30	MTL	Lane Hutson	Tripping	2
11:35	MTL	Nick Suzuki	Tripping	2
17:58	BUF	Rasmus Dahlin	Interference	2
2nd Period
07:13	MTL	Kaiden Guhle	Cross checking	2
09:11	BUF	Beck Malenstyn	High sticking	2

Shot attempts

Team	Attempts (Corsi)	Unblocked (Fenwick)	On goal	Goals	Expected goals	5-on-5 CF%
Montréal Canadiens	56	40	28	2	3.0	53.3
Buffalo Sabres	43	31	16	4	3.0	46.7

How the game went

The gap in shot attempts as the game went on: how many more one team had taken than the other. The line is above the middle and red while Buffalo Sabres had taken more, and below it and blue while Montréal Canadiens had.

Expected goals

Montréal Canadiens: 3.0 expected, 2 scored · Buffalo Sabres: 3.0 expected, 4 scored

Each line climbs with every chance a team had: a small step for a shot from far out, a big one for a dangerous chance. A dot is a goal. Expected goals adds up how likely each shot was to go in, judged by where it was taken from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. Blocked shots and the shootout are not counted.

Where the attempts came from

Montréal Canadiens

Buffalo Sabres

There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from.

Montréal Canadiens

Lines and pairings

Forward line	Time	CF%	xGF%	Goals
Nick Suzuki · Cole Caufield · Juraj Slafkovský	12:02	56.3	31.6	0-1
Jake Evans · Alex Newhook · Ivan Demidov	11:31	61.9	80.5	0-0
Phillip Danault · Josh Anderson · Alexandre Texier	9:57	53.3	34.2	0-0
Joseph Veleno · Kirby Dach · Zachary Bolduc	6:53	25.0	23.1	1-1

Defence pair	Time	CF%	xGF%	Goals
Noah Dobson · Lane Hutson	15:29	51.6	32.7	1-1
Mike Matheson · Alexandre Carrier	10:04	41.7	33.8	0-1
Kaiden Guhle · Arber Xhekaj	4:56	75.0	25.2	0-0

The forwards and the defencemen who were on the ice together most at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out.

Players

xG is the expected goals of a skater's own shots. CF-CA and xGF-xGA are the shot attempts and the expected goals for and against while he was on the ice at five-on-five. For a goalie, xGA is what the shots he faced were expected to produce, and the last column is how many of those he saved. What these numbers mean

#	Skater	Pos	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	Shots	Hits	TOI	xG	CF-CA	xGF-xGA
14	Nick Suzuki	C	1	0	1	-1	2	3	2	21:02	0.51	13-9	0.48-0.73
77	Kirby Dach	C	1	0	1	0	0	1	2	09:46	0.10	5-12	0.16-0.56
20	Juraj Slafkovský	L	0	1	1	-1	0	4	1	19:41	0.51	9-8	0.32-0.69
76	Zachary Bolduc	R	0	1	1	0	0	0	5	08:53		5-9	0.14-0.47
93	Ivan Demidov	R	0	1	1	0	0	2	1	18:19	0.45	14-8	0.77-0.19
8	Mike Matheson	D	0	0	0	-1	0	1	0	21:00	0.03	9-15	0.34-0.56
13	Cole Caufield	R	0	0	0	-1	0	2	1	19:08	0.11	10-8	0.35-0.73
15	Alex Newhook	C	0	0	0	0	0	4	3	16:52	0.32	14-9	0.77-0.19
17	Josh Anderson	R	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	15:46		13-8	0.54-0.75
21	Kaiden Guhle	D	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	18:22	0.03	10-9	0.46-0.51
24	Phillip Danault	C	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	15:20	0.23	9-8	0.39-0.81
45	Alexandre Carrier	D	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0	18:45	0.15	9-9	0.46-0.52
48	Lane Hutson	D	0	0	0	0	2	4	0	26:42	0.22	22-18	1.09-1.21
53	Noah Dobson	D	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	24:09	0.05	22-17	0.84-1.43
71	Jake Evans	C	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	15:49	0.11	13-8	0.77-0.19
72	Arber Xhekaj	D	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	07:42	0.02	8-2	0.36-0.16
85	Alexandre Texier	L	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	11:44	0.10	11-8	0.50-0.81
90	Joseph Veleno	C	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	08:33	0.04	4-10	0.14-0.47

#	Goalie	Decision	Shots against	Saves	Goals against	TOI	xGA	Saved above xG
75	Jakub Dobes	L	16	12	4	56:48	2.77	-1.23

Buffalo Sabres

Lines and pairings

Forward line	Time	CF%	xGF%	Goals
Alex Tuch · Tage Thompson · Peyton Krebs	10:55	52.2	60.1	0-1
Josh Norris · Josh Doan · Zach Benson	10:29	50.0	59.8	1-0
Jason Zucker · Ryan McLeod · Jack Quinn	9:47	53.3	61.2	0-0
Jordan Greenway · Beck Malenstyn · Tyson Kozak	8:42	38.1	51.6	1-0

Defence pair	Time	CF%	xGF%	Goals
Mattias Samuelsson · Rasmus Dahlin	11:28	50.0	51.7	0-0
Logan Stanley · Conor Timmins	9:24	42.9	52.2	0-0
Bowen Byram · Owen Power	9:20	33.3	17.6	0-0

The forwards and the defencemen who were on the ice together most at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out.

Players

#	Skater	Pos	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	Shots	Hits	TOI	xG	CF-CA	xGF-xGA
71	Ryan McLeod	C	1	1	2	0	0	2	0	14:33	0.19	8-7	0.56-0.36
91	Josh Doan	R	1	1	2	1	0	3	2	17:26	0.57	6-7	0.42-0.28
6	Zach Benson	L	0	2	2	1	0	1	2	16:56	0.10	7-6	0.52-0.28
12	Jordan Greenway	L	1	0	1	1	0	1	5	13:03	0.08	8-14	0.55-0.54
24	Bowen Byram	D	1	0	1	1	0	2	1	21:13	0.18	14-15	0.81-0.78
23	Mattias Samuelsson	D	0	1	1	1	0	0	2	21:35		14-11	0.51-0.45
8	Logan Stanley	D	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	12:52		8-10	0.60-0.46
9	Josh Norris	C	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	17:08		7-7	0.52-0.51
17	Jason Zucker	L	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14:15	0.02	8-8	0.56-0.58
19	Peyton Krebs	C	0	0	0	-1	0	0	4	14:02		12-12	0.56-0.37
21	Conor Timmins	D	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0	19:39		8-15	0.54-0.66
22	Jack Quinn	R	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	15:19	0.48	8-8	0.56-0.58
25	Owen Power	D	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	18:41		10-17	0.61-0.76
26	Rasmus Dahlin	D	0	0	0	1	2	4	0	21:04	0.69	16-12	1.32-0.44
29	Beck Malenstyn	L	0	0	0	1	2	0	5	10:36		8-13	0.55-0.52
48	Tyson Kozak	C	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	10:56	0.09	8-14	0.55-0.54
72	Tage Thompson	C	0	0	0	-1	0	0	1	18:28	0.11	12-12	0.56-0.37
89	Alex Tuch	R	0	0	0	-1	0	1	0	19:16	0.52	13-12	0.65-0.39

#	Goalie	Decision	Shots against	Saves	Goals against	TOI	xGA	Saved above xG
34	Alex Lyon	W	28	26	2	59:40	2.72	+0.72