Sabres vs. Canadiens live score, updates, highlights from Game 1 of NHL playoffs Eastern Conference semifinals originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.BUFFALO, N.Y. The highly anticipated NHL Eastern Conference playoff series between the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens has arrived at the KeyBank Center on Wednesday night.It's one of those series that looks right off the bat like it could last seven games, but it has to start with Game 1.The Sabres are playing in their first second-round playoff game in 19 years.The Canadiens, who have won more Stanley Cups than any team in NHL history, are chasing their first Cup since 1993.MORE:Maple Leafs winning lottery doesn't mean what you think for Auston MatthewsIf one of these teams wants to hoist the Stanley Cup, there are still 12 more wins to go from this point.That's a journey they're both chasing, and it'll lead to some high-intensity hockey in this Eastern Conference semifinal series.Below, we'll be keeping track of the live action from our view at press level in the KeyBank Center, so follow along.MORE:Yes, Sabres still play 'O Canada' before playing a team from CanadaSabres vs. Canadiens live score1st2nd3rdScoreCanadiens11-2Sabres22-4MORE:NHL salary cap change should be good news for Sabres, Alex TuchSabres vs. Canadiens live updatesRefresh for the latest.Third period- Tyson Kozak missed an open net, too. Buffalo hasn't quite taken their chances to totally put this away.- With 6:14 remaining, the score holds at 4-2.- A strong shot by Jack Quinn is denied by Dobes with about 10 minutes to play. The goalie keeps Montreal within two.- Lyon and Dobes each with solid saves early in the third. With 13:58 to play, Sabres still lead 4-2.- Jack Quinn hit nothing when he had a wide open net in front of him, smashing it into the boards instead.- Third period underway. Alex Lyon immediate save. Montreal needs to get two back.Second period- End of two: Sabres 4, Canadiens 2.- Canadiens goal. Kirby Dach scores on his own rebound with 3:29 left in the second period. Sabres lead 4-2. Dach with great persistence as he was being tripped but still found a way to bat it in from the ground.- Lyon with a glove save with 4:09 left in the second, and a lot of traffic in front gets the first real post-play extended scuffle of the game. Teams eventually separated without anything crazy happening.- A triple save by Dobes with five minutes left in the second period denies a couple great chances for Buffalo.- Dobes glove save on a good drive by Dahlin sends it to a timeout with 8:07 left in the second period. Buffalo has scored on 4 of its 10 shots on goal.- Sabres' first penalty kill couldn't get off for almost the whole power play, but Alex Lyon deflects a save out of play with just six seconds left to get the change.- Canadiens right on the power play almost immediately. It's Beck Malenstyn high stick.- Bowen Byram. 4-1 Buffalo. 10:59 left in the second period. Power play goal, a second on the man-up for the Sabres. Josh Doan with a key screen in front.- Buffalo on the power play with 12:47 left in the second period. Kaiden Guhle for a cross check.- Jack Quinn had a great chance on the break with 13:20 left in the second period. He hit the metal.- Canadiens have just one shot on target through six minutes of the second period, and Alex Lyon was up to the task.- 3-1 Sabres. Jordan Greenway checked out his options and figured, hey, let's shoot it myself. He goes top shelf and finds the cookies, over Dobes' left shoulder. 16:28 left in the second period, as the shot looks like it tipped off the goalie's glove and in. Assist to Mattias Samuelsson.- A couple of half chances to begin the second period, including Tage Thompson from a dangerous area, but about 2:30 into the frame and not much to note.- Brian Gionta and Dwayne Roloson wave the towels to get the fans fired up before the second period. The Benson line again starts the period for Buffalo.First period- Montreal outshoots Buffalo 10-6, but the Sabres hold the lead on the scoreboard. Buffalo got great play from its third and fourth lines, led respectively by Zach Benson and Beck Malenstyn. Montreal looks most dangerous on the power play.- End of one: Sabres 2, Canadiens 1.- Canadiens goal -- Juraj Slafkovsky gives it to Nick Suzuki for a tap-in on the power play. With 43.4 seconds left in the first period, the Sabres now lead 2-1.- Canadiens will go on the power play with 2:02 left in the first period. Rasmus Dahlin for interference.- It remains 2-0 Buffalo with 3:11 in the first period. Montreal has outshot the Sabres, 7-6.- Ryan McLeod from a tight angle. 2-0 Sabres, a powerplay goal with 6:34 left in the first period. And guess who else on the assist? It's Zach Benson. Josh Doan had the secondary assist.- Sabres powerplay with 8:25 left in the first. Nick Suzuki for tripping. It was Bowen Byram who got into a dangerous position to draw the trip.- Another chance on the doorstep. Ivan Demidov denied this time by Lyon. 9:12 to play in the first.- Phillip Danault had the best chance for Montreal, point blank about nine minutes into this one, but Lyon slid well and denied it.- Montreal is creating more chances than it did in its Game 7 win over Tampa Bay, when it had just nine shots on goal for the game. Alex Lyon will have to be sharp.- 1-0 Sabres. Zach Benson takes it away, drives the zone, and sets up Josh Doan for a tap-in. Benson is every fan's favorite. He proves why by being a pest and getting a brilliant takeaway and assist.- Lane Hutson wide open in the left slot but Alex Lyon stands strong with 15:45 left in the first.- First shift for the Sabres' fourth line is a fantastic one with three big hits and a great setup for defenseman Logan Stanley, although it gets blocked.- Canadiens kill the power play. Only one shot, and a lot of failed entries for Buffalo.- Buffalo's first shot on the power play comes 1:50 into it, and it knocks off Jakub Dobes' mask, but he makes the save.- Sabres power play 30 seconds into the game. Lane Hutson to the box. Tripping.Pregame- Bill Fichtner hits the drum and it's hockey time.- The Sabres are going with energy on their starting line in this one -- Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Josh Norris.- The teams are back on the ice. The Sabres' mascot has descended from the ceiling. A couple of anthems and then playoff hockey.- The Canadiens bring Arber Xhekaj back into the lineup on the third defenseman pairing with Noah Dobson.- Player warmups wrapping up about 6:45 p.m. Tage Thompson slots in a backhand, five-hole shot past backup Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and skates off after finishing on a make. KeyBank Center filling in nicely.- As was mostly expected, Sam Carrick remains out with injury for the Sabres.- There's a towel on each seat in the place for fans to wave. It reads "Buffalo versus everybody," with the words going top-to-bottom so it also looks like it says Buffalo over everybody.- There are a lot of fans already in the building in Canadiens red, white and blue.- An hour before listed puck drop, the warmup clock reads 47 minutes, which suggests that with all the pregame proceedings, this game shouldn't start too long after the listed 7 p.m.- For those wondering: Yes, there are plenty of Canadiens fans wandering around downtown Buffalo on Wednesday.- This game should feature a matchup of two red-hot goalies, with Alex Lyon in net for the Sabres and Jakub Dobes tending the twine for the Canadiens.More NHL news:A lesson for the Sabres from the Buffalo BillsThis is the Maple Leafs' Cooper Flagg, LeBron James momentHow good is Gavin McKenna?Canucks may have gotten 2004-level historically unluckyFlames' trade offer for Nathan MacKinnon is informative for Maple Leafs