The Montreal Canadiens now have home ice advantage in their second round playoff series with the Buffalo Sabres. On Friday night at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, the Canadiens defeated the Sabres 5-1 in game two of their best out of seven series in the Eastern Conference. The series is now deadlocked at one game apiece.
The Canadiens regrouped after losing 4-2 to open the series on Wednesday night. In game two, the Canadiens were led offensively by centre Alex Newhook of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Newhook scored twice, and led the Canadiens in goals and points with two. Despite the fact that the Canadiens scored five times, Newhook was the only Canadiens player to have a multi-point game.
A Canadian scored all five of the Canadiens goals on Friday. The other three Canadiens goal scorers were defenseman Mike Matheson of Pointe-Claire, Quebec, defenseman Alexandre Carrier of Quebec City, Quebec and captain Nick Suzuki of London, Ontario.
Newhook’s second goal was an all-Canadian goal. He scored from defenseman Noah Dobson of Summerside, Prince Edward Island and Jake Evans of Toronto, Ontario at 4:47 of the second period to put the Canadiens up 3-0.
The series now shifts to Montreal. Game three is a the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec on Sunday.
