2 Canadiens most to blame for disappointing Game 4 Sabres loss

The Buffalo Sabres were in a position where they needed to win in Game 4 or they would go home facing a 3-1 deficit to the Montreal Canadiens. Despite the success that some teams have had in recent years when facing a 3-1 deficit, the Sabres are not in that category. No Sabres team has ever come back from even a 2-1 deficit and won a Stanley Cup playoff series.

Head coach Lindy Ruff got his team’s attention and the Sabres would not succumb to the advantages the Montreal Canadiens had in speed or quickness to the puck. Instead, the Sabres battled on even terms for most of the game and proved to be the stronger team in the third period when a hustling Zach Benson scored the winning power play goal nearly five minutes into the third period for a 3-2 victory that squared the series at 2-2.

The Canadiens had momentum and home ice in Game 4 after picking up victories in Game 2 in Buffalo and Game 3 at the Bell Center. The Canadiens did not play a poor game, but they had a couple of lapses that the Sabres took advantage of when they needed to make plays. The Sabres were the more desperate team and they played like it. In short, they wanted it a little more than the Canadiens.

Montreal is going to have to tighten up both offensively and defensively in what is now a best of 3 series. They are going to need a couple of their stars — Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson in particular — to step up and play at an elite level when the series resumes Thursday in Buffalo.

Canadiens need Suzuki to show off his big-play ability

The Canadiens are a team of young stars and that’s why they were able to outlast the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round and why they secured wins in two of the first three games of the series against the Sabres. The brightest star on the team is Nick Suzuki.

While Cole Caufield is a more spectacular goal scorer and Lane Hutson — more on him later — has sensational skating ability, Suzuki is the best all-around player on the team.

Suzuki has not been overly productive in this series. He did score the Habs’ first marker in Game 1 and that allowed Montreal to pull within one goal at 2-1. However, Montreal lost that game by a 4-2 score.

Suzuki didn’t do much in Montreal’s 5-1 victory in Game 2 or their 6-2 triumph in Game 3. He had an empty net goal in Montreal’s first victory and an empty net assist in the win that followed. Other than that, he was kept off the scoreboard in those two one-sided victories.

Suzuki did not produce in Game 4

Montreal needed much more from Suzuki in Game 4 and he did not deliver. He did not have a goal or an assist, and he had just one shot during his 24:34 on the ice. Suzuki was not credited with a hit so he did not show off any kind of physical play. He was charged with one giveaway but he did have one takeaway. The only positive number Suzuki had was that he won 59.1 percent of his faceoffs.

Even that number is skewed because the Sabres are the worst face-off team in the league.

Overall, Suzuki is second on the team in playoff scoring with 3 goals and 6 assists, but he has a minus-4 rating in the postseason. Suzuki was Montreal’s leading score during the regular season. He eclipsed the 100-point mark as he has 29 goals and 72 assists and he also had a plus-37 ratings.

Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis needs Suzuki to play to his ability level in Game 5 and beyond for the Habs.

Hutson needs to do more on the blue line

Suzuki is the Montreal’s best all-around performer, but Hutson is their most dynamic performer on the blue line. In a league that has explosive defensemen like Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Hutson is also an elite blue liner.

Hutson is Montreal’s leading scorer in the playoffs with 10 points in 11 postseason games. He has put the puck in the back of the net twice and he also has registered 8 postseason assists. He is plus-2 during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

However, he did not have his best game against the Sabres in Game 4. He registered an assist on Caufield’s go-ahead goal with seconds to go in the first period, but that was his only scoring point in the game. Hutson was on the ice for 28:30 but he did not have a shot on goal and he gave the puck away to the Sabres once. He had a ninus-1 rating for the game.

Hutson’s game is based on speed, balance, playmaking and risk-taking. However, those risks have to be rewarded with scoring opportunities. That was not the case in Game 4 and that aspect has to improve going forward.

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