The Buffalo Sabres enter this playoff matchup as the more penalty-prone side, taking 6.286 penalties per game across seven postseason games while converting just 11.1% of their man-advantage opportunities — a sharp drop from 20.1% in the regular season. The Montréal Canadiens are drawing more penalties than they're committing this postseason (6.0 against per game vs. 5.5 for) and bring a more efficient 21.4% power play into the game. On-ice officials will be confirmed closer to puck drop, and this preview will refresh with the assigned crew.
Discipline Profiles
Through 82 regular-season games, both teams carried near-symmetrical penalty profiles: BUF took 4.073 penalties per game and drew 3.878, while MTL took 4.244 and drew 4.280. The playoffs have widened those gaps in different directions. BUF's team discipline index has climbed from 0.341 in the regular season to 0.429 this postseason, reflecting a team committing more relative to what it draws. MTL's index sits at 0.250, and while their penalty kill has dipped to 78.1% in the postseason, BUF's kill rate of 83.3% has been the more reliable unit — a relevant edge given BUF's elevated penalty-taking rate.
Players to Watch
Among top-six forwards, Tage Thompson is BUF's sharpest draw-side asset: 0.82 penalties taken per 60 against 1.464 drawn. On MTL's side, Cole Caufield carries a comparable profile at 0.439 taken against 1.004 drawn per 60. Juraj Slafkovský runs in the opposite direction — 1.246 taken against 0.830 drawn per 60 — a negative differential that has added to MTL's penalty-for totals this postseason.
What to Watch
BUF's home/road penalty differential stands at -2 this postseason, the sharper swing of the two teams. MTL's power play, converting at 21.4%, is the more efficient unit and has had volume to work with at 6.0 penalties against per game in the playoffs. Alex Tuch's 1.433 penalties taken per 60 adds another source of BUF shorthanded time beyond the team-level pattern — he and Slafkovský are the two most penalty-prone top-six forwards in this matchup by that measure.
This matchup profiles as a penalty-heavy game on both sides, with special-teams efficiency — not just opportunity — as the variable separating the two units.