Mandatory Image Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

The fourth and final series of the second round. While many thought we were due for another year of Florida, Toronto, and Tampa Bay fighting to come out of the Atlantic, we have Buffalo and Montreal.

The Buffalo Sabres magical run continues, as in December it felt like another lost year in Western New York, but the team turned things around seemingly overnight and became the best team in the league through the final five months of the season.

In their first playoff series since 2011, the Sabres faced a Boston Bruins team who kept exceeding their expectations all season long. I mean who thought that they would make the playoffs and Marchand and the Panthers would not? 

The series peaked in Game 1, when the Sabres came back from a two goal deficit in the final eight minutes of the third period to win in regulation, sending the crowd and the entire city into a frenzy. Boston pushed back with a Game 2 victory, but from Game 3 on the Sabres were in control of the series. The only thing keeping the Bruins in games was Jeremy Swayman, who stood on his head for all but one game in the series.

The few Sabres with playoff experience led the way, Alex Tuch upfront with four goals and seven points, and Bowen Byram on the back end with three goals and five points. The entire first line was a point per game or better in fact, with Tage Thompson having seven points, and Peyton Krebs with six. Furthermore, Byram was not the only defenceman getting involved offensively, Mattias Samuelson had two huge goals, Owen Power had four assists, and captain Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and three assists, getting more comfortable as the series went along.

Buffalo also had huge contributions from Zach Benson and Josh Doan, whose impact did not always show up on the scoresheet. The two were all around Boston’s net all series, causing commotion, and successfully getting under Bruins’ skin. I expect them to crank it up a notch in this series, as it proved to be extremely effective.

In net the team turned to Alex Lyon after an underwhelming first two games from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Lyon would keep the net the rest of the way off his .955 SV% and 1.14 GAA, his only loss coming in a performance where he allowed two goals, the second on a breakaway in overtime.

Both goalies are playing very well right now, Jakub Dobes had a .923 SV% and 2.03 GAA in the opening round. His best performance was in the Game 7 victory, as he needed to carry his team when they were not generating many shots on the other net. He stopped 28 of 29 shots en route to the second round. The goalie battle will be a major story, although it could be thrown out the window with both teams capable of scoring in bunches.

The Canadiens offence was the engine for most of the season, Suzuki 100+ points, Caufield 50+ goals, the list goes on. But against Tampa, they got used to playing a style of hockey that fans would have expected to benefit the Lightning more than the Canadiens, low scoring, defence first hockey. However, the Habs were the team to move on, proving they are comfortable with whatever style gets them the win, even when it isn’t pretty.

Eventually they will need to score, and need their top guys when it matters most. Juraj Slafkovský was phenomenal in Game 1, scoring a hat-trick, including the game winner. However, in the next six games he failed to record a single point. Their leading scorer Cole Caufield only had one goal in the first round after a career high 51 in the regular season. Nick Suzuki had six points, but took until Game 7 to score his first and only goal of the series.

Lane Hutson was exceptional as we have come to expect, and perhaps getting Noah Dobson back on the blue line will help give the team a scoring boost. If they want to advance past this series and further they will need it.

Lindy Ruff versus Martin St. Louis should be a fun coaching battle. An experienced veteran coach, up against one of the top young coaches who can’t help but show the same emotions he did when he was a player.

The fanbases will also be something to watch out for in this series, as both Buffalo and Montreal are passionate sports cities who love their teams. I do expect to see more red in the KeyBank Center than blue in the Bell Centre. But I’m more interested in what happens outside the rink, as we might have duelling roller hockey gangs throwing hands pregame.

Insert the Paul Rudd “look at us, who would have thought” meme. I certainly did not foresee this series in the second round before the season began. But as the season went, the more realistic it became. Here we are, who gets the pleasure of facing the Hurricanes in the Conference Final, we shall see.

Prediction: Sabres in 7