Canadiens highlights: Powerplay struggles sink Habs

Published on: 13 5 月, 2026 by admin

The Montreal Canadiens host the Buffalo Sabers on Tuesday night, looking to leave the Bell Center with a 3-1 series lead.

As expected, it was another tight battle, but the Habs only scored on one of the seven power plays given to them, giving the Sabers a 3–2 victory.

Let's look at the highlights!

Ode to Newfoundland

The Sabers opened the scoring during another poor start from the Habs. Despite the many improvements the Canadiens have made since the start of the rebuild, they have still not been able to win in the first 10 minutes of every game.

The Sabers appeared to have taken a 2–0 lead, but a smart challenge from Martin Saint-Louis was successful, restoring the one-goal lead.

The challenge led to an immediate and noticeable increase in effort from the Canadiens, culminating in a goal from usual suspect Alex Newhook.

It was his sixth goal in the playoffs, and his fifth in only three games.

Newhook is the stick that is sparking Montreal's offense, there is no doubt about that.

defend at all costs

Given that the Sabers decided to run rookie netminder Jacob Dobbs at full speed in Game 4, the Habs took no chances in Game 5, fiercely defending their most valuable player whenever traffic began to pick up.

star effect

After what can only be described as a soft call on Tage Thompson, Canadiens sniper Cole Caufield found the back of the net for the second consecutive game.

It was a powerplay goal, meaning he has yet to score at 5v5, but you can't look like a gift horse, especially in the playoffs.

Caufield is heating up, and that's nothing but great news for the Habs.

can't win them all

All things considered, the Habs actually had good luck in the playoffs, but it was the Sabers who benefited from a very fortuitous surge in Game 4.

Tage Thompson's shot bounced off the seam of the boards, hit Dobbs' back and landed behind him, tying the game at 2 in the second period.

Penny Drops

Montreal deserves credit for using its speed wisely, but there is clearly something wrong when it comes to the Sabers in the second round.

They're showing the type of discipline we've come to expect from the Canadiens, constantly taking penalties that are not only glaring, but completely pointless.

Fortunately for the Sabres, Montreal mostly failed to take advantage of the many power plays they were given.

While the Canadiens struggled to make the most of their power plays, the Sabers took a 3–2 lead via a goal by Zach Benson on the man advantage.

It was Buffalo's second power play goal of the game, and a good reminder that special teams go a long way in ensuring playoff success.

To Dobbs' credit, he played very well, despite the fact that the Habs swept the Sabres.

At 5v5, Buffalo had an 8-3 edge in high-danger chances in the first two periods. Montreal eventually generated a good amount of scoring opportunities of their own, but it was a matter of score impact, and the Sabers attempted to park the bus for much of the half period.

It was all in vain, as the Sabers managed to hold on to their fragile lead long enough to emerge with a 3–2 victory.

The Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Thursday facing the Sabers in Buffalo. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens stats are 5v5, via Natural Stat Trick, unless otherwise noted.

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Mark has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for the Journal Metro, The Athletic, The... More about Mark Dumont
#Canadiens #highlights #Powerplay #struggles #sink #Habs
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