Zach Benson on Tuesday night broke a tie on a third-period power play on his 21st birthday as the Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in Game 4 to even the Eastern Conference semi-final series.
Benson took a pass in the slot from Josh Doan, kicked the puck to his stick and put a backhander past goalie Jakub Dobes at 4 minutes, 41 seconds of the third. The goal came with Jake Evans off for holding Peyton Krebs.
Game 5 is tonight in Buffalo, with Game 6 in Montreal on Saturday night. The series winner would face Carolina in the Eastern Conference final. The Hurricanes swept both of their series.
Photo: AP
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen replaced Alex Lyon in goal after the Sabres dropped Games 2 and 3, making 28 saves in his first action since being pulled in the third period of a Game 2 loss to the Boston Bruins in the first round.
“At this point of the year, it doesn’t matter to me [if I start]. As long as we win, that’s the most important thing,” Luukkonen said. “It feels good to come in and be able to help the team to win, too.”
In Las Vegas, Pavel Dorofeyev took a hard shot off his right knee in the second period, forcing him to leave the ice for a few minutes, but powered back to score at 4:10 of overtime to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, moving Las Vegas a victory away from advancing to the Western Conference final.
“I just blocked a shot,” said Dorofeyev, who has seven goals this post-season. “It’s kind of a [lousy] part of my job, but it hurts more when I miss it. I just had to get myself together and get back on the ice.”
Game 6 of the second-round series is tonight at Anaheim.
The Golden Knights can reach the conference final for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2023. Anaheim, making their first playoff appearance in eight years, will try force a Game 7 back in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Tomas Hertl had gone 29 games going back to the regular season without a goal, but now has two in two games. He also had the primary assist on a Dorofeyev power-play goal in the first period.
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