Buffalo Sabres at Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens beat Sabres 6-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the second-round Eastern Conference series

Alex Newhook had two goals, including an empty-netter, and Zachary Bolduc, Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach also scored for Montreal.

Lane Hutson and Jake Evans each had two assists, and Jakub Dobes made 26 saves as the Canadiens won consecutive games for the first time in this season's playoffs.

The Montreal crowd broke into chants of “Do-by! Do-by!” — one of several ovations the rookie goalie received Sunday night — as Dobes burst into laughter from his crease.

“It warms your heart, and I’m really proud to be a Canadien and play for this franchise,” Dobes said. “After the Tampa series, I couldn’t believe some of the things that happened in the city, but it’s so much fun. I’m just happy that the fans are having fun with this as much as we do.”

It is quickly becoming the spring of Dobes in Montreal, though the candid netminder insists he’s still his same old self.

“I’m not a hero, I’m just me. I’m just a goofy goalie who tries to stop pucks,” Dobes said. “I will pretty much go home, eat, watch Game of Thrones and go to bed. I don’t think that’s anything heroic.

“And when it’s time to do my job I will do anything to win and make this franchise happy, make these fans happy.”

Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, which dropped its first road game of the postseason. Alex Lyon stopped 31 shots in his second straight loss.

The teams split the first two games in Buffalo. The Sabres handed the Canadiens a 4-2 loss in Game 1 before Montreal responded with a 5-1 victory in Game 2.

Game 4 is Tuesday night in Montreal.

“Everyone in the room has better. We still haven’t gotten to what I think is our best game,” Thompson said. “It starts with me, it starts with Dahlin, (Alex) Tuch. There’s more in the tank.”

Minutes after missing an open net, Caufield scored on the power play for his first goal in six games to give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead 6:05 into the second and kick off a wild, four-goal period.

Hutson deked around a stick-less Jordan Greenway and dropped a pass to Caufield, who scored into the gaping net as the crowd erupted.

The Canadiens appeared to gain a 3-1 lead one minute later when Josh Anderson’s backhand trickled through Lyon as Phillip Danault crashed the crease. The officials, however, ruled no goal.

Bolduc ultimately gave the Canadiens a two-goal advantage at 10:43 in the second after Joe Veleno chased down a puck behind Sabres defenseman Logan Stanley and set him up.

Chaos ensued two minutes later when Beck Malenstyn ran over Dobes, setting off a massive scrum and sending the Canadiens on a power play. Slafkovsky made it 4-1 with a deflection on Hutson’s point shot as Montreal went 2 for 5 with the man advantage.

Dahlin cut into the deficit with 5:14 left in the second period, sending a shot off the far post.

But Dach restored the three-goal lead at 8:46 in the third when he pulled a loose puck out from under Lyon and fired a shot into the open net.

The goal followed multiple key saves from Dobes, twice denying Zach Benson, as the Canadiens fended off a Sabres pushback that included a nervy penalty kill early in the period.

Newhook, who also scored twice in Game 2, added his second when he was hooked with a clear path to the empty net with 4:46 left in the third.

Large crowds packed the surrounding streets hours ahead of the game. Kirk Muller carried the ceremonial torch before puck drop of the Canadiens’ first second-round playoff game before a full Bell Centre since 2015.

Thompson wasted little time to — temporarily — quiet the crowd, opening the scoring 53 seconds in after Dahlin’s point shot deflected off the end boards and onto his stick. He ended a seven-game drought after going minus-4 with a costly turnover in Game 2.

“We started off really good,” Thompson said. “There were spurts throughout the game where I thought we got to our game and played to our standard, but just not consistent enough, and we gave them life.

“The building is pretty rocking, so it’s a little deflating.”

Newhook sparked a run of four unanswered goals by the Canadiens.

Series tied 2-2