Sabres rediscover their power play in 2nd-round series-opening win over Montreal

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Sabres forward Ryan McLeod didn’t mind fielding questions about Buffalo’s power-play production on Wednesday night.

A unit that converted just 1 of 24 opportunities in its six-game first-round playoff series against Boston went from being anemic to prolific in a 4-2 second-round series-opening win against Montreal.

Buffalo finished 2 of 3 with the man advantage against the Canadiens. McLeod scored on the Sabres’ second opportunity before setting up Bowen Byram’s goal on the next one to build a 4-1 lead.

“Maybe keep asking, if we’re going to keep scoring now,” McLeod said with a laugh to reporters. “Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t. But it’s a process of building it and getting your look. So I think, we got them tonight.”

The Sabres host Game 2 of the series on Friday night.

Buffalo’s power play was so bad in the first round, the Sabres’ 4.2% conversion rate was tied for 865th out of 897 teams that had 20 or more opportunities in a playoff series since 1978. The struggles actually carried over from the final seven regular-season games during which the team went 0 for 22.

“It was hit or miss throughout the last couple of games there, and tonight was one of those nights where we had to get more pucks back in retrievals,” Josh Doan said.

Though Buffalo’s top unit, featuring Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, had difficulty generating offensive-zone pressure against Montreal, the second unit delivered.

Doan played a key role in setting up McLeod’s power-play goal to put Buffalo ahead 2-0 with a power-play goal 13:26 into the first period.

Doan won a puck battle in front of the Canadiens’ net by pushing the puck into an open spot to the left, where teammate Zach Benson immediately fed a pass through the crease to set up McLeod.

Then it was McLeod’s turn, setting up Byram’s goal 9:01 into the second period. After batting down Mike Matheson’s clearing attempt, McLeod chased down the puck and fed Byram, who scored from between the circles.

“Just trying to keep it in the zone any way I could,” McLeod said. “I just kind of get a little lucky sometimes, but it was nice to get that one.”

A change in opponent may have benefited the Sabres.

Montreal finished the regular season ranked 18th with a 78.2% penalty-killing rate. And the Canadiens were coming off a seven-game, first-round series win over Tampa Bay in which the Lightning converted 5 of 29 power-play opportunities.

Montreal coach Martin St. Louis chalked up Buffalo’s power-play success to fortunate bounces.

“I felt like we killed pretty well on entries and stuff, and didn’t feel like they beat us with some of the looks that they like, so that’s a positive,” St. Louis said.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff liked what he saw.

“We took advantage of some good breaks, made a couple of good plays,” Ruff said, noting Dahlin hit the crossbar on one opportunity.

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