There are no secrets between the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens.<\/p>\n
The teams each play in the Atlantic Division and played each other four times this season, splitting the series 2-2-0 with each team scoring 13 goals. \u00a0<\/p>\n
“We know them, they know us, so it’ll be a battle,” Buffalo captain Rasmus Dahlin<\/a>\u00a0said Monday. “It comes down to compete, it comes down to who wants it more every shift. Puck battles, box-outs, stuff like that. It’s going to be so tight, so it takes a lot to score goals in the series, I think.”<\/p>\n The Sabres won their first playoff series since 2006-07 with a 4-1 victory against the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of the first round at TD Garden in Boston on Friday. Montreal eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 win in Game 7 on Sunday.<\/p>\n Buffalo, the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division, has home-ice advantage in the second round against the Canadiens, who are the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic.<\/p>\n “It’s one step in the right direction. That’s it,” forward Alex Tuch<\/a>\u00a0said. “Every team sets out in training camp to try to be the best at the end of the year, to try to hoist the Stanley Cup, so obviously that’s a goal for our team as well.<\/p>\n “We’re one round in the playoffs. In our eyes, we haven’t done anything yet. We’re going to enjoy this win, this series win, and we’re going to move on and be ready for whoever we play next. Because we’re hoping it’s a long road ahead for us.”<\/p>\n Tuch (four goals, three assists) and Tage Thompson<\/a> (two goals, five assists) led the Sabres against the Bruins with seven points each. Forward Peyton Krebs<\/a>\u00a0(two goals, four assists) had six points, and defenseman Bowen Byram<\/a>\u00a0(three goals, two assists) had five.<\/p>\n Alex Lyon<\/a> went 3-1 with a 1.14 goals-against average and .955 save percentage after taking the starting role from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen<\/a> for Game 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n