Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres Game 1 Prediction, NHL Playoff Odds
The final second-round Stanley Cup playoff series to start does so Wednesday when the Montreal Canadiens visit Buffalo for Game 1 of their Eastern Conference set. The Sabres are -130 favourites on the NHL odds with a total of 5.5 goals.
Canadiens vs. Sabres NHL Betting Odds
Montreal and Philadelphia are the only teams in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs without an American Olympics player from this year in Italy. The Habs are the only team from Canada still standing. Of course, Montreal in 1993 was the last Canadian franchise to win the Cup.
On the series line, Montreal is -110 and so is Buffalo even though the Sabres were Atlantic Division champions and the Habs finished third. That the series lasts both six and seven games are +205 co-favourites. The favoured exact result is Buffalo in seven at +450, and that would be my early lean. Either team sweeping is a +1300 long shot. The Sabres to take Game 1 and the series is +165. The Canadiens to pull that double is +205.
The teams split four regular-season meetings. Nick Suzuki (2G, 6A) led Montreal with eight points in the series and was plus-4, while Cole Caufield (4G, 2A) had six points and was plus-2. Jakub Dobes won both his starts in net, stopping 66 of 70 shots. Tage Thompson (3G, 4A) led Buffalo with seven points, while Noah Ostlund (1G, 3A) had four – Ostlund will miss this series injured. Alex Lyon lost both his starts in net with Colten Ellis and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen each winning theirs.
The clubs have met in the postseason seven previous times but not since 1998. The Canadiens won four of those seven series. The home team is 6-1 in the previous Game 1s.
Montreal Canadiens
What a thrilling first-round series for Montreal vs. Tampa Bay with the Canadiens finishing the Lightning on Sunday in Game 7 by a score of 2-1 in Tampa despite putting only nine shots on goal. Those were the fewest ever for a playoff game winner.
Alex Newhook’s first goal of the playoffs at 11:07 of the third was the winner. It was the second latest go-ahead goal in a Game 7 for the Canadiens behind Maurice Richard at 56:19 of the 1952 semifinals vs. Boston.
Montreal earned its record-tying 16th all-time win in a Game 7 (16-9) and extended its own record with its eighth all-time road victory in a Game 7 (8-6). All seven games in the series were decided by one goal, the third time that has happened in NHL history after Bruins-Capitals in 2012 and Rangers-Capitals in 2015.
Nick Suzuki and blueliner Lane Hutson led Montreal with six points each in the series. Suzuki has now recorded a point in each of his first two career Game 7s. His other point came in the 2021 first round when he assisted on Corey Perry’s series-clinching goal to eliminate the Maple Leafs.
Jakub Dobes started each Lightning in net and had a 2.03 goals-against average and .923 save per centage. Dobes became the fourth rookie goaltender in the league over the past 10 years to win a Game 7.
Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo is in the postseason for the first time since 2011 (had been the league’s longest drought) and advanced for the first time since 2007. The Sabres eliminated Boston in Game 6 last Friday, 4-1.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen started the first two games of the series in net but was pulled in Game 2, and Alex Lyon then started the rest of the way. He should be the guy in Game 1. Lyon is 0-3 with a 3.77 GAA in his past three vs. Montreal, and this will mark his first-ever playoff start vs. a team other than Boston.
Alex Tuch (4G, 3A) and Tage Thompson (2G, 5A) led Buffalo with seven points each against the Bruins. The team also got a whopping six goals from defencemen in the series.
The Sabres have won at least 49 games in a season for the fourth time in team history. The previous three times, they got go the Eastern Conference Finals (1975, 2006, 2007). There are two teams in the second round who have never won a Stanley Cup: Buffalo and Minnesota.
