Zach Benson broke a tie on a third-period power play on his 21st birthday and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in Game 4 to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series, the report says. Benson took a pass in the slot from Josh Doan, kicked the puck to his stick and put a backhander past goalie Jakub Dobes at 4:41 of the third while Jake Evans was off for holding Peyton Krebs, per the report.
Game 5 is scheduled for Thursday night in Buffalo, with Game 6 to follow in Montreal on Saturday night, the report says. The series winner will advance to face Carolina in the Eastern Conference final; the report notes the Hurricanes swept both of their series.
Tage Thompson tied the game for Buffalo in the second period with a fluke goal and recorded an assist, the report says. Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson opened the scoring for the Sabres and Doan finished with two assists. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen replaced Alex Lyon in goal after Buffalo lost Games 2 and 3 and made 28 saves in his first action since being pulled in the third period of a Game 2 loss to Boston in the first round, per the report.
Montreal’s goals came from Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield, and Jakub Dobes stopped 19 shots, the report says. Thompson’s tying goal came seven minutes into the second on a four-minute power play when his dump-in from just over center ice deflected off the glass in the left corner to the crease and bounced in off Dobes’ right leg. Alexandre Carrier was assessed a double minor for high-sticking that cut Rasmus Dahlin.
The Canadiens were unable to capitalize on a four-minute power play late in the second after Bowen Byram was sent off for high-sticking Alexandre Texier, and Montreal finished 1-for-7 on the power play, the report says. Buffalo opened the scoring with Samuelsson’s goal at 6:32 of the first, and a potential second goal was overturned when Montreal successfully challenged for goalie interference on Konsta Helenius. Newhook tied it at 1 with 9:52 left in the first, and Caufield gave Montreal the lead with 13 seconds remaining in the period on a power-play finish past Luukkonen, per the report.
