Sabres chase first conference final since 2007

Buffalo is suddenly playing games that the franchise hasn’t touched in a generation. The Sabres beat Montreal 4-2 in Game 1 on Wednesday, May 6, and now they’re two weeks from something the city has not seen since 2007 — a trip to the conference final. That’s the real story here. Not just that Buffalo is in Round 2, but that the team finally looks built for this kind of hockey. Montreal is good enough to make this messy, but the opener showed why the Sabres think this run is not a fluke. ### Why does this run feel so big? Because Buffalo has spent most of the past 15 years as the NHL’s cautionary tale. The Sabres had not made the playoffs since 2011, and they had not won a playoff series since beating the Rangers in the 2007 Eastern semifinal. That changed on May 1, when they closed out Boston in six games. So this round the final four. ### What actually changed this spring? The Sabres stopped looking like a talented team waiting for its turn and started looking like one that can dictate games. They finished first in the Atlantic with 109 points, then handled Boston 4-2, 4-0, and 4-1 in three of their four wins in Round 1. The defensive structure tightened, the goaltending settled, and the blue line started driving offense instead of just supporting it. ### Why was Game 1 so telling? Because Buffalo won in a way playoff teams need to win — not with chaos, but with control. Josh Doan and Ryan McLeod each had a goal and an assist, Jordan Greenway scored, and Bowen Byram added a power-play goal. Montreal got goals from Nick Suzuki and Emil Heineman, but Buffalo owned the rhythm after the early push. The Sabres did not need a miracle period. They looked like the steadier team. ### Why do special teams matter so much here? Because Buffalo’s power play had been ice cold, then snapped awake at exactly the right time. The Sabres went 2-for-3 in Game 1 after going 1-for-46 over their previous 13 games. That is the kind of swing that changes a series fast. If Montreal has to defend Buffalo’s five-on-five forecheck and also stop a revived power play, the margin gets thin in a hurry. ### What’s happening with Cole Caufield? He’s the pressure point for Montreal. Caufield scored 51 goals in the regular season, but through eight playoff games he had just one goal and four points, and he was held scoreless again in Game 1. That does not mean he’s playing badly every shift. But it does mean Buffalo is turning his usual space into traffic — basically forcing a pure finisher to play through a crowd every touch. ### Why is Buffalo so hard on scorers? The Sabres are getting the layered version of their roster at once. Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power move the puck cleanly, Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson tilt the ice, and the depth guys are actually finishing plays. Add strong goaltending from Alex Lyon — 4-1 with a 1.30 goals-against average and.950 save percentage entering Game 3 — and Buffalo can survive games that aren’t pretty. ### So what decides this series? Montreal has to make this looser. The Canadiens can absolutely score in bursts, and Suzuki still gives them a real engine. But if the games stay structured, Buffalo has the edge because more of its lineup is contributing and its defensive game is holding up under pressure. The opener looked less like an upset bid and more like a team announcing that the drought years are finally over. ### Bottom line The Sabres are not just chasing nostalgia. They’re chasing a conference-final berth with a roster that finally looks sturdy enough to get there.