Buffalo scored three goals on four shots in a dizzying opening stretch and led the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 after 20 minutes in Game 5 at KeyBank Center on April 6.
Jack Quinn started it two minutes into the game when his shot from the top of the circle deflected off Jason Zucker and found the net. Less than five minutes later, Nick Suzuki set up Cole Caufield to tie it after a Sabres defensive-zone giveaway by Conor Timmins. Buffalo answered just over a minute later when Owen Power connected with Josh Doan on a point-to-point one-timer to restore the lead.
The pace only grew faster. Just nine seconds after Buffalo went back ahead, Alexandre Carrier fired from the point and the shot deflected off Alexandre Texier's skate to beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and make it 2-2 again. Then, just over two minutes later, Konsta Helenius scored on a rush for his first career playoff goal and put Buffalo ahead 3-2.
The final half of the first period was scoreless, but the damage had already been done. Five goals came in 20 minutes in a game billed as critical, and the Sabres had already forced Montreal to chase from behind twice before the first intermission. For Buffalo, the opening frame was enough to seize control; for Montreal, it was the kind of period that leaves no room for more mistakes.
What followed from there mattered because the Sabres had not just scored first — they had answered every Montreal push with a goal of their own. In a game this tight, that kind of response can decide everything.
