Buffalo hosts Montreal to open the second round

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Montreal Canadiens (48-24-10, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Buffalo Sabres (50-23-9, in the Atlantic Division)

Buffalo, New York; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EDT

LINE: Sabres -130, Canadiens +109; over/under is 5.5

NHL PLAYOFFS SECOND ROUND: Sabres host series opener

BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo Sabres host the Montreal Canadiens to start the Eastern Conference second round. The teams meet Saturday for the fifth time this season. The teams tied the regular season series 2-2. In their last regular season meeting on Feb. 31, the Canadiens won 4-2.

Buffalo has a 20-7-5 record in Atlantic Division games and a 50-23-9 record overall. The Sabres have an 18-5-5 record in games they score one or more power-play goals.

Montreal has gone 48-24-10 overall with a 20-10-3 record against the Atlantic Division. The Canadiens are fifth in NHL play serving 10.4 penalty minutes per game.

TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Doan has scored 26 goals with 26 assists for the Sabres. Alex Tuch has seven goals and four assists over the past 10 games.

Nicholas Suzuki has 29 goals and 72 assists for the Canadiens. Josh Anderson has scored three goals with one assist over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Sabres: 7-1-2, averaging 3.8 goals, 6.2 assists, 4.7 penalties and 11.3 penalty minutes while giving up 1.9 goals per game.

Canadiens: 5-3-2, averaging 2.4 goals, 4.6 assists, 5.6 penalties and 11.7 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game.

INJURIES: Sabres: Noah Ostlund: out (lower body), Jiri Kulich: out for season (ear), Sam Carrick: day to day (arm), Justin Danforth: out for season (kneecap).

Canadiens: Patrik Laine: out (abdomen).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.