The task facing the Buffalo Sabres is not easy, but it is straightforward.

The Sabres must drum up a win when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday or their season is over.

The Canadiens lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series 3-2 with a chance to close it out in front of their frenzied home faithful. The Sabres head to Montreal with a chance to spoil that party and then have the same opportunity in their arena on Monday.

“What is there, five teams left? To be sitting here talking to you guys, I think that it’s a wonderful place to be, and I’ll tell the team the same thing,” coach Lindy Ruff said on Friday. “We get to go to Montreal in Game 6 in the middle of May to move on to a Game 7.”

The series winner will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final. Carolina swept its opponents in each of the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs and has been off since Sunday.

To prolong their series, the Sabres must regroup from a deflating 6-3 home loss on Thursday. Buffalo held a 3-2 lead after the first period, but surrendered four unanswered goals.

This would be a perfect time for a couple of struggling first-liners to find their form. Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs have failed to net a single point in the first five games of this series. Tuch netted four goals and three assists while Krebs had six points (two goals, four assists) in the six-game series victory over the Boston Bruins to open the playoffs.

“I can’t play the way I’m playing right now,” Tuch said. “Just going to be will and determination, but I’ve got to move past it, I’ve got to move on to the next game, and I’ve got to be better for the guys in this room.”

The Canadiens return home to a city and arena that will be filled with excitement.

The young squad had high hopes for the season and going into the playoffs. Reaching the third round may have exceeded anybody’s expectation back in October, but now is a reality they can all envision.

“Saturday night at the Bell Centre, I don’t think you can write it any better to close out a series,” forward Joe Veleno said on Friday. “I think the boys know that, and we’re all ready for it.”

It’s the same situation they had in their opening-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Montreal failed to beat the Lightning in that Game 6 on the road, although it was as much due to a great goaltending performance by Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy as anything else.

Still, there was a lesson learned about the difficulty of closing out a series.

“I think it’s the hardest game,” defenseman Alexandre Carrier said. “Any time a team’s got its back against the wall, that’s when they’re desperate, that’s when they play their best most of the time. We’ve just got to stick to our game plan and really do what we do best.”

Though there will be a euphoric atmosphere in Montreal, the Canadiens’ track record this postseason has shown they will likely not be overwhelmed.

“I think we’re just focused on each and every day,” coach Martin St. Louis said. “We’re not worried about the day before. We’re not worried about what’s ahead. Let’s just take care of today. I think when you just take care of today, usually you don’t get anxious or too ecited. I feel like you just stay present where your feet are.”

–Field Level Media

Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell was scratched from his Friday start hours before the opener of the Freeway Series against the Angels in Anaheim and placed on the 15-day injured list.

The Dodgers said the 33-year-old Snell was scratched due to loose bodies in his left elbow.

The IL move is retroactive to Tuesday.

The Dodgers are now listing right-hander Will Klein (1-2, 2.76 ERA) to be the first pitcher in what will be a bullpen game.

The contest was slated to be Snell’s second appearance of the season. His season got off to a late start due to shoulder issues and he made his season debut last Saturday against the Atlanta Braves.

Snell struggled against the Braves as he allowed five runs (four earned) and six hits while throwing 77 pitches in just three innings. He struck out five and walked two while taking the loss.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner was limited to 11 starts last season due to a shoulder injury and went 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA in his first season with the Dodgers. In the postseason, he went 3-2 with a 3.18 ERA in six appearances (five starts) to help the Dodgers win the World Series.

Snell is 81-63 with a 3.17 ERA in 223 career starts over 11 major league seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays (2016-20), San Diego Padres (2021-23), San Francisco Giants (2024) and Dodgers.

Snell won the American League Cy Young with the Rays in 2018 and took National League honors in 2023 for the Padres.

Los Angeles recalled left-hander Charlie Barnes in a corresponding move. Barnes, 30, hasn’t appeared in a game for the Dodgers since being claimed off waivers from the Chicago Cubs last Saturday. He gave up four runs (three earned) in three innings in his one outing for the Cubs.

–Field Level Media

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley, two players without a regular-season win or a major top-15 on their resume, will enter the weekend tied for the lead at the PGA Championship and in prime position to earn a career-changing win at Aronimink Golf Club.

McNealy and Smalley finished Friday’s second round at 4-under-par 136 for the championship, and another 13 players are within two shots, setting up an unpredictable weekend at the second major of the year.

Smalley posted a 69 during the morning wave to set the clubhouse lead, and McNealy was the first player all week to touch 6 under before two late bogeys set him back. They’re one in front of Chris Gotterup (5-under 65), Max Greyserman (69), Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (67), South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter (70), Australian Min Woo Lee (70) and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger (70).

Of that top eight, McNealy, Smalley, Gotterup, Greyserman, Potgieter, Lee and Jaeger have a mere two top-10 finishes at majors among them. Only Matsuyama has prevailed on this stage before, when he captured the 2021 Masters.

But the group at 2 under features heavy hitters who could apply pressure Saturday. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler bogeyed three of his first four holes and settled for a 71, but he’s only two back along with Cameron Young (67), Justin Thomas (69), Harris English (67), Ludvig Aberg of Sweden (66), Si Woo Kim of South Korea (67) and David Puig of Spain (67).

Smalley, one of seven co-leaders after one round, was the first of three players to forge a solo lead at 5 under only to give it all back. He played the back nine — the more difficult half of the course — in 2 under par but proceeded to bogey Nos. 1, 2 and 3. He bounced back with a birdie at No. 4 before pitching his third shot at the par-5 ninth to 14 inches.

It was Potgieter’s turn next, as the 21-year-old birdied Nos. 3 and 9 and spent most of the back nine at 5 under. But he stumbled on his last two holes, bogeying both to drop back to where he began.

That made way for McNealy, who rebounded from a bogey at No. 15 with an eagle 3 at No. 16 and added birdies at Nos. 1, 2, 5 to hit 6 under. Then a short par putt slid by at No. 6, he missed the green at the tricky par-3 eighth and a decision to chip with the toe of his putter didn’t pan out, producing another bogey.

Gotterup’s 65 is the best round of the tournament so far. Ranked No. 10 in the world, he burst onto the scene with last year’s Scottish Open title and third-place finish at the Open Championship before he won two events on the PGA Tour this winter. Gotterup birdied Nos. 7, 8 and 9 at the end of his round to surge up the leaderboard.

Jaeger managed to par all 18 holes Friday, while Greyserman, a native of New Jersey like Gotterup, chipped in for eagle on his final hole, the par-5 ninth.

The cut line was expected to settle at 4 over par as the top 70 players and ties qualify for the weekend. The highest-ranked player who’ll miss the cut is World No. 6 Tommy Fleetwood of England (5 over), along with Norway’s Viktor Hovland (6 over), U.S. Open champ J.J. Spaun (6 over), Keegan Bradley (6 over) and Bryson DeChambeau (7 over).

Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy, who described his first-round 74 as “s—,” rebounded to shoot a bogey-free 67. The World No. 2 moved to 1 over to comfortably make the cut.

Ben Kern was the only PGA teaching professional of 20 in the field to make the cut. Kern racked up six birdies amid a round of 67 to get to 1 over.

–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media