Montreal's Top Line Got Shut Down by Tampa Bay. Buffalo Will Be Way Worse.

The Montreal Canadiens are still standing after that brutal Game 7 in Tampa Bay on Sunday night, but barely. They showed up with nine total shots in an elimination game and somehow walked out alive. Now they're four wins away from the Eastern Conference Final, and their next problem is a division rival that might actually be tougher to crack.

Let's be real: goaltending won them that series. Jakub Dobes absolutely outplayed Andrei Vasilevskiy, and it wasn't even close. On Sunday alone, Dobes made 28 saves to keep the Canadiens breathing. When two teams are this evenly matched (power-play goals five apiece, even-strength scoring 11-to-10 for Montreal), the goalie is almost always going to be the difference. Dobes was among the best goalies in this entire first round of the playoffs. That's elite performance under the brightest lights.

The Real Problem: Montreal's Stars Got Neutralized

Here's what should worry Canadiens fans heading into Round 2. Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky formed one of the deadliest top lines in hockey all season long. These guys were the engine behind Montreal being competitive all year, including their late-season push for the divisional crown. Then Tampa Bay happened.

The Lightning threw Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, and Nikita Kucherov at Montreal's best line and completely shut them down. The top trio finished the series four goals underwater. Think about that. The team only got through because their second line, Alex Texier, Kirby Dach, and Zach Bolduc, went absolutely nuclear and outscored Tampa Bay 6-0 in their minutes. Without that depth scoring, Montreal doesn't advance.

Buffalo Is a Different Beast Entirely

Montreal can probably write off the Lightning matchup as a one-off. Tampa Bay has the personnel to neutralize Montreal's stars in a way few teams can. But Buffalo? That's a different problem. The Sabres don't have an elite five-man matchup unit like the Lightning do, but they have something arguably more dangerous: incredible depth. Buffalo is rolling three confident lines and three pairings, just like they did against Boston in the first round. This lineup doesn't have many weaknesses.

For Montreal to pull off an upset, Caufield, Suzuki, and Slafkovsky need to wake up and reclaim their dominance. Dobes will need to stay sharp. And their depth will have to keep producing. But against a team as deep as Buffalo, Montreal's stars can't afford another silent series.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.