The Buffalo Sabres entered their second-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens with a power play that had been more of a power outage. After converting just 1 of 24 opportunities in a grueling six-game first-round battle with Boston, the man advantage was a glaring weakness. But in a stunning turnaround, the Sabres found their spark, going 2-for-3 in a decisive 4-2 series-opening win on home ice.

Ryan McLeod was the catalyst, scoring on Buffalo's second power-play chance and then setting up Bowen Byram's goal on the next one to push the lead to 4-1. "Maybe keep asking, if we're going to keep scoring now," McLeod joked with reporters afterward. "Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't. But it's a process of building it and getting your look. I think we got them tonight."

The turnaround was desperately needed. Buffalo's power-play conversion rate of 4.2% in the first round ranked among the worst in NHL playoff history—tied for 865th out of 897 teams with 20 or more opportunities since 1978. The struggles weren't new either; the Sabres had gone 0-for-22 on the power play over their final seven regular-season games. "It was hit or miss throughout the last couple of games there," said Josh Doan. "Tonight was one of those nights where we had to get more pucks back in retrievals."

While the top unit featuring stars like Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin struggled to establish zone time against Montreal's penalty kill, the second unit stepped up in a big way. Doan ignited the offense by winning a puck battle in front of the Canadiens' net, pushing the puck into open space where teammate Zach Benson quickly fed a cross-crease pass to McLeod for the 2-0 lead at 13:26 of the first period.

McLeod returned the favor in the second period, batting down defenseman Mike Matheson's clearing attempt before chasing down the loose puck and feeding Byram for a clean shot from between the circles. "Just trying to keep it in the zone any way I could," McLeod said. The result: a power play that went from punchless to prolific, giving Sabres fans plenty of reason to believe this playoff run is just getting started.