Canadiens goaltending steadies, Buffalo's falters as Montreal wins Game 5

The Colorado Avalanche turned momentum around in their last game with a goalie change.

The Montreal Canadiens showed on Thursday, March 14, that being patient with a goaltending performance can also be beneficial.

Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes gave up three goals on three consecutive shots in a wild first period and coach Martin St. Louis stuck with him. He steadied and stopped every shot afterward to lead the Canadiens to a 6-3 victory and a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven second-round series against the Buffalo Sabres.

And now the Sabres are the team concerned about their goaltending.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was pulled after two periods in which he gave up five goals on 23 shots. He was replaced by Alex Lyon.

Dobes, trailing 3-2, made a save on a Tage Thompson breakaway early in the second period. Luukkonen gave up goals to Josh Anderson, Jake Evans and Nick Suzuki to fall behind 5-3. The goalie allowed an Ivan Demidov shot to squeeze through his pads before Evans poked in the puck.

Lyon gave up a power play goal to Demidov, the first goal of the playoffs for the rookie of the year finalist.

Coach Lindy Ruff will have a goaltending decision to make for Game 6 in Montreal on Saturday night.

If the Sabres don't get better goaltending there, especially with Montreal's top players starting to connect, the Canadiens will head to the Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.