The Sabres-Canadiens series is 1-1, which sounds neat and tidy until you remember Buffalo just got run 5-1 on home ice. Alex Newhook potted 2, Jakub Dobes turned away 29, and Ruff afterward admitted his team "beat ourselves" with sloppy puck management. Now they fly to Montreal for a Game 3 that historically goes a long way toward deciding a 1-1 series.
The number Buffalo has to fix first is the dot. Montreal won 59.6% of faceoffs in Game 2, which is how you concede goals at 1:36 and 4:27 of the first period and never recover. Sam Carrick is reportedly back in to take draws on the fourth line, which is a small lever but a real one when you're getting buried in your own end before you can blink.
Ruff also blew up the power play after going 0-for-5. The new top unit puts Josh Doan, Zach Benson, and Jack Quinn around Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, with Alex Tuch, Jason Zucker, and Josh Norris kicked to PP2. Tuch said the room "loosened up" at practice. We'll see if that translates or if it's just the standard between-games script.
- OutNoah Ostlund C — Ostlund (lower body) isn't expected to be available to play in the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, according to Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News on Sunday.
Noah Ostlund is still out with a lower-body issue and isn't expected back this round, so don't pencil him into any depth-chart math. The bigger lineup story remains the goalie crease — Alex Lyon was hung out to dry in Game 2 and the Sabres need him to look like the guy who got them through Round 1, because Dobes has been calm at the other end.
Pinnacle has Montreal at -120 with the total parked at 6.0, which is basically the market shrugging — home ice for the Habs, but Buffalo's +107 number tells you the books still respect the Sabres' top end. If Thompson and Dahlin actually get the new PP1 humming, that line moves. If not, this series is in real trouble of getting away from them fast.