Buffalo Sabres star Tage Thompson was just trying to get the puck into the Montreal Canadiens' zone.
A freakish bounce off the boards turned his routine play into the most pivotal goal of Buffalo's Game 4 win evening the playoff series at 2-2 on Tuesday night in Montreal.
During a second-period power play, Thompson shot the puck from center ice around the boards to get his team set up in the attacking zone. The puck deflected off a corner of the glass near the Zamboni entrance door and ricocheted directly off the top of Montreal goalie Jakub Dobes' right pad and into the net to tie the score at 2-2 in shocking fashion.
Buffalo went on to win 3-2, leaving Bell Centre with a split.
"I obviously saw it hit the glass," Thompson said. "I was kind of just scanning around, looking for a few guys to put their hands up [in celebration]. It's a nice feeling when you see that."
Buffalo forward Zach Benson, who scored on the power play in the third period to give the Sabres the lead, acknowledged how vital Thompson's fluke goal was for the eventual win.
"You need those bounces, come playoff time. And it was a big goal for us," said Benson, who celebrated his 21st birthday with the game winner.
Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis was asked what the difference was in their Game 4 loss.
"The difference ... it's a fine line, right?" he said. "They get a goal off the door there. The stanchion. Whatever. Is that the difference? I don't know."
The goal gave the Sabres new life in a game that saw the momentum having swung to the Canadiens, starting with a controversial coach's challenge goal reversal in the first period.
Just as in Game 3, the Sabres scored the opening goal at Bell Centre, this time from defenseman Mattias Samuelsson at 6:32 of the first period. But this time it appeared the Sabres had taken a 2-0 lead as the NHL Situation Room determined that Jack Quinn's shot entered the Montreal net while it was in the webbing of Dobes' glove. But then Montreal initiated a coach's challenge for goaltender interference, and video review determined Buffalo's Konsta Helenius interfered with Dobes and impaired his ability to play his position. The goal was disallowed at 8:02 of the first period.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff saw the play differently from the NHL and its officials.
"I totally disagree with it," he said. "Just for the fact that Dobes always is swinging the stick. He initiated the contact with Helenius, with the stick coming across the crease. I thought Helenius did a great job of trying to avoid the goaltender. Their guy ends up hitting the goaltender. So I really thought that that was going our way."
The Canadiens and their boisterous home crowd were reenergized. Forward Alex Newhook scored his sixth of the playoffs at 10:08, as forward Jake Evans found him alone in front. Then Cole Caufield landed an emotional gut punch to Buffalo, scoring a power-play goal with 13 seconds left in the period for the 2-1 lead.
The Sabres said after their Game 3 loss that they managed their emotions poorly when the Canadiens took the lead and their home crowd was echoing cheers and chants through the arena. In Game 4, Thompson's goal off the boards in the second period was a game changer.
Thompson played a role on the Sabres' game winner in the third period, too. With Evans in the penalty box for holding Peyton Krebs, Thompson drew two defenders to him before sending a quick pass to winger Josh Doan to the right of the crease. Doan found Benson alone in front of Dobes, and the Sabres winger put the puck home for the lead at 4:41.
From there, it was goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen who closed the deal. He had last played April 21 in a Game 2 loss to the Boston Bruins, after which goalie Alex Lyon took the crease. Lyon gave up nine goals in his past two games to Montreal, and Luukkonen was back in for Game 4, making 28 strong saves.
"'Upi' made so many big saves tonight that we really needed in key moments," Benson said. "So all the credit goes to him. He was the biggest reason why we walked out of this building with a win."
That, and one big friendly bounce off the boards.
Game 5 will be Thursday in Buffalo, New York.
