BUFFALO — Having just played his first six postseason games, Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin developed a feel for the demands and rigors of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The media, the ultra-talented defenseman said, blew things up. After the Sabres’ first-round victory over the Boston Bruins, he said he realized the postseason “is just hockey.”
“But the level is a little raised and the compete is raised,” said Dahlin, one of 14 Sabres who made his postseason debut in the series.
In disposing of the Bruins and winning their first series in 19 years, a group of playoff neophytes illustrated they possess the talent and maturity to compete at this time of the year.
Coach Lindy Ruff, whose Sabres begin their best-of-seven second-round series on Wednesday at home against the Montreal Canadiens, said his players “can manage the emotions of a series.”
“We’ve become a pretty damn resilient team,” he said Monday in KeyBank Center.
After losing Game 2 at home, they won the next two contests in Boston to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. After falling 2-1 in overtime in Game 5 and failing to finish off the Bruins at home, they closed it out on the road in Game 6.
The Sabres quickly responded to any disappointment.
“Imagine the noise in this building if you score the overtime goal and you clinch the series, and we didn’t,” Ruff said. “And then you got to deal with this emotion after you didn’t get it done going into the visiting building, and that building was pretty charged up.”
The Sabres and Canadiens know each other well, having played four times during the regular season.
The speedy teams closely mirror each other.
The longtime Atlantic Division rivals split the season series, each going 1-1-0 at home and on the road. Both teams scored 13 goals.
The Sabres finished the regular season with 109 points, three more than the Canadiens. The Sabres also outscored the Canadiens (283 and 279 goals, the fifth- and seventh ranked offenses, respectively) and allowed fewer goals (240 and 251, the 11th- and 17th-ranked defenses, respectively).
“We know them, they know us, so it’ll be a battle,” Dahlin said. “It comes down to compete. It comes down to who wants it more every shift. Puck battles, box-outs, stuff like that. It’s going to be so tight.”
The Canadiens just won the tightest of series over the Tampa Bay Lightning. One goal decided each of the seven contests. Four went to overtime.
They advanced by winning 2-1 on Sunday in Tampa Bay despite mustering just nine shots on goal, the fewest ever in a playoff win. They registered zero shots in the second period.
“Sometimes it doesn’t look real pretty, but you got to find ways to win games in the playoffs, and they won Game 7,” Ruff said.
While the Canadiens scored just 16 goals in the series, they possess some of the NHL’s most prolific scorers. The trio of center Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky rank among the league’s most dynamic.
Suzuki recorded 101 points during the regular season. Caufield scored 51 goals, a total that trailed only Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon’s 53. Slafkovsky scored 30 goals.
Lane Hutson’s 78 points ranked third among defensemen.
Caufield scored just once in the first round. Still, he’s a lethal threat.
“He’s got a great shot, a great release,” Ruff said of the 5-foot-8, 175-pound Caufield. “He’s good at hiding, finding quiet areas. … A smaller man with small stick, quick release. You think you can get to him, but you can’t, because he’s getting the shot away. Great skater at the same time.
“He’s got a complete package, and incredibly strong on the puck.”
After staying off the ice on Monday, the Sabres will practice today.
The complete series schedule is below.
– Game 1, Wednesday, 7 p.m., Montreal at Buffalo
– Game 2, Friday, 7 p.m., Montreal at Buffalo
– Game 3, Sunday, 7 p.m., Buffalo at Montreal
– Game 4, May 12, TBD, Buffalo at Montreal
– Game 5, May 14, TBD, Montreal at Buffalo– Game 6, May 16, TBD, Buffalo at Montreal– Game 7, May 18, TBD, Montreal at BuffaloIf necessary.
•••
Wait a second, center Sam Carrick might be available to Sabres against the Canadiens after all.
Ruff said on Monday that Carrick, who has missed the last 13 games after injuring his left arm in a fight March 31, planned to see team doctors. If everything went well, he could join his teammates for today’ practice.
“Which is great news,” Ruff said. “That would put him a little bit ahead of schedule.”
On Sunday, Ruff said Carrick wouldn’t be available in the second-round series.
“He’s further along than maybe I portrayed yesterday,” he said.
Carrick, a key contributor following his arrival before the trade deadline, quickly acclimated to his new team, scoring five goals and six points in 13 games while pivoting the fourth line.
In other news, Ruff said forward Justin Danforth, who hasn’t played since breaking his kneecap Oct. 15, is “doing good.”
“I don’t know what period of time,” Ruff said. “I’m going to say I don’t believe so (available for the playoffs), but I wouldn’t rule that out.”
Ruff also reiterated rookie center Noah Ostlund, who suffered a lower-body injury in last Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins, won’t be available against Montreal.
•••
The NHL on Monday announced Dahlin is one of three finalists for Masterton Trophy for his dedication to hockey.
Dahlin, 26, revealed before the season his fiancée, Carolina Matovac, suffered heart failure during the summer and spent several weeks on life support before undergoing a heart transplant.
She later posted on Instagram she had lost their unborn child.
Earlier this season, Dahlin visited Matovac a few times in their native Sweden, including in November, when he took a leave of absence from the Sabres.
After months of recovery and rehab, she joined Dahlin in Buffalo last month.
Dahlin, one of the NHL’s elite defensemen, led the Sabres to their first playoff appearance since 2011.
Colorado Avalanche winger Gabriel Landeskog and Winnipeg Jets center Jonathan Toews are the other finalists.