This Sabres-Canadiens playoffs series looks like the future of the Atlantic Division

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Which is to say, their six-game series with Boston fills up their career playoff resume. That’s what happens when a franchise doesn’t make the postseason for 14 years. Juraj Slavkovský? The Montreal Canadiens star had 12 career playoff games before this series. Same as Ivan Demidov. It was 14 games for Zack Bolduc, 16 games for Kirby Dach, and 12 games for both Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson. Joe Veleno played his first career playoff game Wednesday night. The only tangible difference between the rosters is that the Habs got a five-game peek at the Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round with the Washington Capitals last spring. Otherwise, these resumes are just starting to get filled out by two young and talented squads that are going to pile up the playoff games over the next few years. If one sits back and ponders this changing-of-the-guard Atlantic Division series in the second round, Wednesday night’s 4-2 win by the Buffalo Sabres over the Montreal Canadiens may not just be the first of seven possible games, but maybe the first of 20, 30, 40 playoff games between these two franchises over the next decade. “It’s always been the toughest division, for me,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said Wednesday. “A lot of organizations that know what winning’s like and know how to do it. All of us, we were missing the playoffs while Tampa and Florida, all those guys were going to the Cup finals, and you’re just rebuilding and trying to go to that level. Now both of us are really good teams in the league. It’s exciting and it definitely makes the division matchups really important.” Of course, the Atlantic Division is loaded and there are a few other teams in it that will have a say in future series, but as Game 1 played out Wednesday night in an electric atmosphere here at KeyBank Center, I couldn’t help but wonder if we were witnessing the opening chapter of what could be one of the NHL’s great rivalries of the next several years. “The first thing you mention is the youth, and the energy that both teams have,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said Wednesday. “High-end skill, Montreal’s got a couple of dynamic defensemen, a good part of our offense is driven by the top four from our defense, goaltending on both teams has been good. I think that’s a winning recipe.” All that youth, on the same ice sheet, is impossible to ignore. “Yeah, I think it’s one of the things that was a concern for both groups heading into the playoffs,” Sabres forward Josh Doan, scorer of the series’ first goal, said after the game. And yet, maturity born out of adversity is what you saw from both the Canadiens and Sabres in the opening round. These two teams are learning on the job and the growth is happening in real time. “Credit Montreal for beating Tampa, who have a lot of experience,” continued Doan. “We handled ourselves well against Boston, who had good experience. And you could kind of see where Montreal has learned over the last seven games to this point on how to defend and how to get over pucks and not put themselves in position to create offense for us that you might have gotten in the regular season. So credit to them for adapting to that, and I think that’s something we kind of have to learn as well.” One of the many compelling reasons to enjoy this series is that the same youthful talent that has got both teams here will also still make mistakes, which should lead to a little free-wheeling at times. I would argue Game 1 was a little tepid as far as both teams feeling each other out — there’s more-entertaining hockey to come — but what was impressive to me was Buffalo’s ability once again to put away the game in the third period. Montreal was pushing late after Kirby Dach cut the Sabres’ lead to 4-2, and there was a sense in the air that if the Canadiens could get another one early in the third period it was far from over. But Buffalo shut it down impressively, which is an important sign of growth for a young team taking steps towards becoming a true Stanley Cup contender. “I think we’ve had a lot of training,” Ruff said after the game when asked about his team’s ability to close down games. “You go back to December when we went on a 10-game winning streak. We got a really good feel what it was like to lead and be in games that were either tied in third period or we had a one-goal lead. That carried over to January where the same thing, we had a good month and we didn’t give points away. You’re learning or you’re tied, there’s a point where you know the other team is going to be really aggressive. “We were a team that put too much risk in our game for a long period of time. And I think we’ve been able to balance that risk where our defense is still involved but we’re not giving up crazy opportunities that allow the other team to get back in it.” Learning to close games, understanding that a two-goal lead is enough, don’t risk a turnover — that’s one of the hardest things for a young team to learn in today’s NHL game, where young players grow up so focused on skill plays and TikTok highlight goals and everything that’s flashy. So many young players come up the ranks lacking game management. So seeing the Sabres again lock down a game like they did Wednesday night was yet another sign of where this roster is headed. It was notable, too, how calm Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis was in analyzing his team’s performance. Sure, of course there are parts of Wednesday night he didn’t like. But more telling is the confidence he showed saying they would learn from it and bounce back. Those aren’t just words for the cameras. The Canadiens followed up each loss to Tampa with a win last round. That’s the learned reality: the young Habs won’t let Game 1 hang in their heads too long. And if anyone thinks goalie Jakub Dobeš might suddenly be doubting himself after allowing four goals in Game 1, think again. The rookie goalie has been unflappable over the past few months. I have zero doubts about his bounce back ability for Friday night’s Game 2. But what truly interests me is how much more learning both these teams will do not just about each other over the next two weeks, but especially about themselves. This could be a very special series setting the tone for the next decade in the Atlantic Division. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms