It’s easy to look at the Canadiens roster and highlight the likes of Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki, and while those players all had success against Buffalo, when you look further down the lineup, some of the difference makers came from there.
Alex Newhook put the Sabres on their heels throughout the series and wreaked havoc on the Lightning in the first round.
Newhook had the game-winning goal in Game 7 against both teams and became the second player in NHL history to do that (Nathan Horton with Boston in 2011 is the other). He had six goals against Buffalo and used his speed to help give the Sabres fits despite their own speed available to counter him.
“I wasn’t sure if Jake touched it, so I kind of looked at him to see if he was going to celebrate or not, but I mean, you know, it’s a crazy feeling, a lot of emotion, obviously,” Newhook said. “It was a war all series long, and you know, for it to end up being Game 7 in overtime, sometimes it just takes one shot, and coming across the line, just thought there was a shot opportunity.”
Newhook’s linemate, Jake Evans, helped create chaos by both creating odd-man rushes with him and using Newhook’s speed to open up opportunities by putting the puck in space for him. Newhook and Evans each had seven points against the Sabres and that’s a lot of damage done from guys who aren’t the star players.
Veteran center Philip Danault was a menace at the dot against Buffalo. He won more than 57 percent of his draws in all situations and was able to make life harder on Buffalo’s pivots.
In the games where the Sabres struggled hardest overall, a lot of that began at the faceoff dot and Danault was a key reason for that.
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