After a wild, goal-filled start to a critical Game 5 from the KeyBank Center, the Buffalo Sabres lead the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 after 20 minutes.
The goals came fast and furious, as it was the home team striking first.
Two minutes into the contest, a shot by Buffalo’s Jack Quinn from the top of the circle deflected off Jason Zucker and found its way past Montreal netminder Jakub Dobes to open the scoring.
Less than five minutes later, however, a defensive zone giveaway by the Sabres’ Conor Timmins led to Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki scooping up the puck and setting up 50-goal scorer Cole Caufield to tie it.
The goals just kept on coming, as just over a minute later, Buffalo answered. Defenceman Owen Power connected with Josh Doan on the point-to-point one timer, beating Dobes low blocker to regain the lead.
Just nine seconds later, however, Montreal responded once again. A shot from the point by Alexandre Carrier deflected off Alexandre Texier’s skate, getting by Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to once again knot things up.
Just over two minutes later, the lamp was lit once again. Sabres forward Konsta Helenius beat Dobes five-hole off the rush for his first career playoff goal, as the Sabres rattled off three goals on four shots in virtually the first 10 minutes.
The final half of the period saw things calm down from a goal-scoring standpoint, as the teams headed to the dressing rooms with the Sabres leading 3-2.
