March 30th, 1983
Montreal Canadiens (49-29-4) at Buffalo Sabres (48-26-8)
The Canadiens will start a Best of 7 Quarter Final Series against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Montreal finished just 2 points behind the Sabres but should take some confidence into the series as they were 4-0-1 in five games with Buffalo.
Tonight we profile RW
Rob Lynch. The 28 year old signed as a free agent with the Canadiens on July 4th, 1981 after a season with the Blackhawks. Primarily being used as a 4th line RW, he had 1 goal and 5 points in 60 games this season. His role has diminished this season as he has only played 8:47 on average compared to 12:55 last year. In 207 career NHL games, he has 15 goals, 39 points, 42 PIMs and a -29 rating. He had 1 assist in 6 career playoff games with Chicago.
Montreal will start G
Mike Blackshear, while Buffalo will start
Aleksey Zhavronkov.
There was no scoring in the 1st period, Buffalo out shot Montreal 16 to 5.
Buffalo gets the 1st goal of the series when RD
Robert Fraser scores at 2:00 of the 2nd period while SH. Montreal gets it back at 3:02 when LD
Andrew Rickford gets his 1st of the playotts and it is 1-1. The Sabres get a 2nd SH goal at 3:46 when LW
Wilfred Caldwell gets his 1st of the playoffs. Buffalo goes up 3-1 at 19:27 when C
Colin Gagne scores on a 5 on 3 PP. Montreal out shot Buffalo 16 to 11 in the 2nd period.
Buffalo goes up 4-1 at 12:53 of the 3rd period when RD
Gabriel Jalbert gets his 1st of the playoffs on another 5 on 3 PP. The Sabres continue to put pucks past G
Mike Blackshear, this time its RW
Jim Bunting scoring at 15:11 and a 5-1 Buffalo lead. Montreal out shot Buffalo 9 to 7 in the 3rd, Montreal was 0 for 6 on the PP while Buffalo was 2 for 10.
Buffalo's RW
Wilfred Caldwell was the games 1st star, he had a goal. The 28 year old now has 6 goals and 17 points in 20 career NHL playoff games. The Sabres lead the Canadiens in series 1-0.
Buffalo 5
Montreal 1
| PER | TEAM | GOAL | # | ASSIST | ASSIST |
| 1st |
| No Scoring |
|
|
|
| 2nd | BUF | Robert Fraser (SH) | 1 | Adrian Gore |
|
| 2nd | MTL | Andrew Rickford | 1 | Dave Wright | Al Ladd |
| 2nd | BUF | Wilfred Caldwell (SH) | 1 | Stephen West |
|
| 2nd | BUF | Colin Gagne (PP) | 1 | Samuel Marcoux | Gabriel Jalbert |
| 3rd | BUF | Gabriel Jalbert (PP) | 1 | Colin Gagne | Jim Bunting |
| 3rd | BUF | Jim Bunting | 1 | Anthoni Moreau | Samuel Marcoux |
| TEAM | GOALIE | SA | GA |
| MTL | Mike Blackshear | 34 | 5 |
| BUF | Aleksey Zhavronkov | 30 | 1 |
Around the league................
Carolina Hurricanes G
Tom Peyton made 30 saves in a 3-0 win over the Bruins. The 27 year old got his 1st NHL playoff win. The Hurricanes lead the series 1-0.
Washington 3 Pittsburgh 2 The Capitals lead series 1-0.
Florida 3 Islanders 2 The Panthers lead series 1-0.
Winnipeg 3 Edmonton 2 (O/T) The Jets lead series 1-0.
Anaheim 3 Calgary 2 The Ducks lead the series 1-0.
Nashville 7 Minnesota 3 The Predators lead the series 1-0.
St Louis 3 Dallas 1 The Blues lead the series 1-0.