April 8th, 1983
Buffalo Sabres (48-26-8) at
Montreal Canadiens (49-29-4)
Buffalo leads series 2-1
Montreal are in a must win situation as they do not want to go back to Buffalo down 3-1. Montreal need G
Mike Blackshear to step up and be more like the guy that won 16 games and a Cup in the 80-81 season.
LD
Ashton Miller is in his rookie season with Montreal and will dress in the playoffs for the 1st time tonight. The 20 year old played in 29 games for Montreal getting a goal and 10 points with a +7 rating. Millers role will be as stay at home defenseman. Montreal drafted him 83rd overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, he has limited playoff experience, just 3 games with the AHL IceCaps last year.
Buffalo will start G
Aleksey Zhavronkov, he is 2-1 with a 3.33 GAA and .912 save %. He is playing his 11 career playoff game. Montreal goes with G
Mike Blackshear, he is struggling so far these playoffs with a 1-2 record, a 4.00 GAA and .831 save %.
Montreal dominated the 1st period out shooting Buffalo 20 to 4 but could not beat
Zhavronkov. Buffalo was 0 for 2 on the PP while Montreal was 0 for 3, but Buffalo had a 5 minute PP when the very quiet C
Chris Hughes got a major for head contact.
Although Montreal was gaining momentum throughout the 2nd period, Buffalo took a 1-0 lead at 8:34 when LW
Anthoni Moreau got his 3rd of the playoffs. Shortly after that
Moreau got his 2nd of the game, 4th of the playoffs on a PP and its now 2-0 Buffalo. Montreal out shot Buffalo 11 to 4 in the 2nd, but trail 2-0.
Buffalo goes up 3-0 as RD
Gabriel Jalbert gets his 2nd of the playoffs on the PP at 4:42. Montreal fans and management sensing that this could be the last home game of the year. Montreal do get on the board, RW
Rob Lynch gets his 1st of the playoffs to make it 3-1 at 14:15. The building is rocking when extra attacker
Lorenzo Bocci gets his 1st of the playoffs at 19:05 to make it 3-2. Montreal cannot get the equalizer and fall 3-1 in the series. Montreal out shot Buffalo 20 to 9 in the 3rd, Buffalo was 2 for 4 on the PP, Montreal was 0 for 5.
For the 2nd straight game, Buffalo LW
Anthoni Moreau was the 1st star with 2 goals. The 21 year old now 4 goals and 5 points in 4 playoff games.
Buffalo 3
Montreal 2
Buffalo leads series 3-1.
| PER | TEAM | GOAL | # | ASSIST | ASSIST |
| 1st |
| No Scoring |
|
|
|
| 2nd | BUF | Anthoni Moreau | 3 | Soren Shalla | Jim Bunting |
| 2nd | BUF | Anthoni Moreau (PP) | 4 | Samuel Marcoux | Jim Bunting |
| 3rd | BUF | Gabriel Jalbert (PP) | 2 | Colin Gagne | Samuel Marcoux |
| 3rd | MTL | Rob Lynch | 1 | Marc-Andre Berube | Melvin Swiney |
| 3rd | MTL | Lorenzo Bocci | 1 | Marek Bartolcic | Ashton Miller |
| MAJOR's |
|
|
|
|
| PER | TEAM | PLAYER | MIN | PENALTY |
| 1st | MTL | Chris Hughes | 5 | Illegal check to the Head |
| TEAM | GOALIE | SA | GA |
| MTL | Mike Blackshear | 17 | 3 |
| BUF | Aleksey Zhavronkov | 51 | 2 |
Around the league................
Boston 4 Carolina 3- Hurricanes RW Patrick Connor had 2 goals in the win. The 28 year old now has 4 goals and 5 points in 4 playoff games. For his career Connor has 5 goals and 9 points in 10 career playoff games.
The series is tied 2-2.
Washington 2 Pittsburgh 1
Washington wins the series 4-0.
Islanders 7 Florida 3
Florida leads series 3-1.
Winnipeg 6 Edmonton 3
Winnipeg leads series 3-1.
Calgary 2 Anaheim 0- Anaheim Ducks G Coy Crane made 40 saves in the loss. The 29 year old now has a 1-3 record in the playoffs with a 3.02 GAA but a great .924 save %. In 9 career playoff games, Crane has a 2-7 record, a 3.02 GAA and a .907 save %.
Calgary leads series 3-1.
Minnesota 1 Nashville 0
Series is tied 2-2.
St Louis 2 Dallas 1 - Dallas Stars G Craig Amies made 39 saves in the loss. The 20 year old now has a 0-2-1 record in 3 playoff games with a 2.42 GAA and .939 save %. For his career Amies has a 2-4-1 playoff record with 2.11 GAA and a .945 save %.
St Louis leads series 3-1.