BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Sabres forward Ryan McLeod didn’t mind fielding questions about Buffalo’s power-play production on Wednesday night.
A unit that converted just 1 of 24 opportunities in its six-game first-round playoff series against Boston went from being anemic to prolific in a 4-2 second-round series-opening win against Montreal.
Buffalo finished 2 of 3 with the man advantage against the Canadiens. McLeod scored on the Sabres’ second opportunity before setting up Bowen Byram’s goal on the next one to build a 4-1 lead.
“Maybe keep asking, if we’re going to keep scoring now,” McLeod said with a laugh to reporters. “Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t. But it’s a process of building it and getting your look. So I think, we got them tonight.”
The Sabres host Game 2 of the series on Friday night.
Buffalo’s power play was so bad in the first round, the Sabres’ 4.2% conversion rate was tied for 865th out of 897 teams that had 20 or more opportunities in a playoff series since 1978. The struggles actually carried over from the final seven regular-season games during which the team went 0 for 22.
“It was hit or miss throughout the last couple of games there, and tonight was one of those nights where we had to get more pucks back in retrievals,” Josh Doan said.
Though Buffalo’s top unit, featuring Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin, had difficulty generating offensive-zone pressure against Montreal, the second unit delivered.
Doan played a key role in setting up McLeod’s power-play goal to put Buffalo ahead 2-0 with a power-play goal 13:26 into the first period.
Doan won a puck battle in front of the Canadiens’ net by pushing the puck into an open spot to the left, where teammate Zach Benson immediately fed a pass through the crease to set up McLeod.
Then it was McLeod’s turn, setting up Byram’s goal 9:01 into the second period. After batting down Mike Matheson’s clearing attempt, McLeod chased down the puck and fed Byram, who scored from between the circles.
“Just trying to keep it in the zone any way I could,” McLeod said. “I just kind of get a little lucky sometimes, but it was nice to get that one.”
A change in opponent may have benefited the Sabres.
Montreal finished the regular season ranked 18th with a 78.2% penalty-killing rate. And the Canadiens were coming off a seven-game, first-round series win over Tampa Bay in which the Lightning converted 5 of 29 power-play opportunities.
Montreal coach Martin St. Louis chalked up Buffalo’s power-play success to fortunate bounces.
“I felt like we killed pretty well on entries and stuff, and didn’t feel like they beat us with some of the looks that they like, so that’s a positive,” St. Louis said.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff liked what he saw.
“We took advantage of some good breaks, made a couple of good plays,” Ruff said, noting Dahlin hit the crossbar on one opportunity.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff speaks with team during the third period in Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram, center, celebrates his goal during the second period in Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Buffalo Sabres center Ryan McLeod, center right, celebrates his goal with Buffalo left wing Zach Benson during the first period in Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
NEW YORK (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi certainly has the New York Yankees' number — even if nobody else does lately.
The veteran right-hander cooled off Aaron Judge & Co. for the second time in eight days Wednesday night, pitching eight masterful innings for the Texas Rangers in their 6-1 victory.
“That’s the tough part, right? We don’t really do this very often, where we have to face that same team back-to-back starts," Eovaldi said. "Fortunately for me the last time it was a good one. I know I threw a lot of splitters and cutters. Today with the curveball being as effective as it was, it just allowed me to I guess rely on that pitch a little bit more, but also keep doing what was working before.”
Eovaldi threw 31 curveballs — his most in a game since 2019 with Boston, manager Skip Schumaker noted.
“The last two outings with Evo have been fantastic. I mean, today was exactly what we needed and hoped for against a really good lineup,” Schumaker said. “I thought there was a chance he'd go the distance, but I wasn't going to push him with a five-run lead.”
The 36-year-old Eovaldi, a two-time All-Star who pitched for the Yankees from 2015-16, struck out a season-best eight and walked none, firing 72 of his 101 pitches for strikes. He allowed just three hits — albeit against a lineup minus injured sluggers Ben Rice and Giancarlo Stanton — after tossing seven innings of four-hit ball in a 3-0 win over New York on April 29 at home.
"He was fooling ’em all night,” said catcher Kyle Higashioka, who spent 2017-23 with the Yankees. “He just uses all his pitches in a manner that just keeps people guessing, forcing them to commit hard or soft. I think it’s just, his stuff lends itself to really keeping guys off balance. He's always a tough at-bat and he really knows how to pitch. He’s got a great capacity for that. So I mean, it’s no surprise to me he shut ’em down twice.”
Each splendid performance snapped a three-game slide for Texas. In between, the American League-leading Yankees (25-12) scored 46 runs while going 5-0 against the Orioles and Rangers.
“You know how good that team is over there. Their game planning is elite, so you have to mix it up. You cannot get into patterns," Schumaker said. "I didn’t know what he was throwing, either. I mean, his game plan, he has such good feel for swings and what the hitters are trying to sit on. So, there’s a game plan but then he also goes out there and he can navigate a game on his own as good as anybody based on what he’s seeing. And that’s the part of the game that sometimes gets lost today, right?”
Eovaldi became the first Rangers pitcher to last longer than seven innings this year and improved to 5-2 with a 2.22 ERA in his last 11 starts against the Yankees since April 8, 2022.
“That’s the biggest thing for me is, I enjoy the challenge. I want to face the best teams, and I want to go out there and attack the zone as best I can,” Eovaldi said.
“I played here in Yankee Stadium enough to know like, how big the crowd plays into effect, how they can get the players going. It’s one of those things about being able to pitch on the road is just being able to try to take the crowd out of the game.”
New York had won eight in a row at home.
“They’re a good-hitting team, so they’re going to come out and learn from the last game, because he threw fantastic against them last week," Higashioka said. "They’re going to learn from that and they’re going to make adjustments, so we have to kind of figure out a way to mitigate that without straying too far from Evo’s strengths. So, he did a great job adjusting.”
Eovaldi thought he mixed his pitches well and said it helped that the Rangers scored early, building a 4-0 lead by the third behind homers from Corey Seager and Evan Carter.
That allowed Eovaldi to "just try to stay on the attack the whole time,” he said.
The only blip came when Judge hit his major league-best 15th homer with two outs in the sixth for the Yankees, who had won 15 of 17 overall. But that merely trimmed the margin to 6-1, and Eovaldi retired his final seven batters after that.
“It was an amazing outing," Schumaker said.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Texas Rangers' Nathan Eovaldi pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge reacts after striking out during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Texas Rangers' Nathan Eovaldi pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Texas Rangers' Nathan Eovaldi pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
