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Game 3 will be at the Bell Centre on Sunday night.
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Published May 08, 2026 • 1 minute read
BUFFALO — The Montreal Canadiens didn’t need their stars to shine on Friday night.
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As the top line of captain Nick Suzuki between Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky had a quiet game, Alex Newhook filled the breach, scoring two goals to lead the Canadiens to a 5-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference second-round series.
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The best-of-seven is tied, with Game 3 at the Bell Centre on Sunday night.
It was the first time in 41 career Stanley Cup playoff games that Newhook scored two goals. In fact, he had just three goals in his previous 40 playoff games.
Newhook got the Canadiens going early, redirecting a Kaiden Guhle feed past Sabres goalie Alex Lyon at 1:36 of the first period. Less than three minutes later, defenceman Mike Matheson scored on a shot from the point, and the Canadiens were on their way.
Newhook beat Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin to the net to tap a Jake Evans pass into the net at 4:47 of the second period to put Montreal up 3-0.
Zach Benson, a thorn in the side of any Sabres opponent, tapped a Conor Timmins pass behind Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes to get Buffalo on the scoreboard in the final minute of the second period.
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The Sabres couldn’t use the goal to build for a push in the third period. At 3:54, defenceman Alexandre Carrier went bar down over Lyon’s glove after keeping the puck on a two-on-one rush.
Buffalo really never threatened after the Carrier goal. On the whole, the Canadiens had more hunger in their game than they did in the series opener.
Suzuki scored into an empty Sabres net with four minutes remaining.
The Sabres power play came back to reality after scoring twice on three opportunities in Game 1. Buffalo, 1-for-24 in the first round against the Boston Bruins, failed to score on five power plays.
X: @koshtorontosun
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