BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Captain Nick Suzuki and the Canadiens’ top line brought the offense, goalie Jakub Dobes shook off a rough start, and Montreal is one win from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals.Suzuki and Jake Evans capped a three-goal second period surge by scoring 68 seconds apart in a 6-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night, giving the Canadiens a 3-2 lead in their second-round playoff series.Montreal didn’t lead until Evans swept a loose puck over the goal line behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to put the Canadiens up 4-3 with 3:45 remaining in the second period. Ivan Demidov set up the goal when his shot glanced off Luukkonen’s glove and then dribbled behind him.Suzuki then scored 10 seconds into a power-play opportunity by converting Juraj Slafkovsky’s one-handed pass from the end boards and beating Luukkonen through the legs with a shot from the lower right circle.
“The power-play goal was huge, felt like it gave us a little bit of breathing room,” Suzuki said. “Just kept trying to put the foot on the gas a little bit, too.”Demidov, Cole Caufield, Josh Anderson and Alexandre Texier also scored for Montreal, which will host Game 6 on Saturday night.
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