2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference SFs
Game 5: Montreal Canadiens (A3) @ Buffalo Sabres (A1)
Series tied 2-2
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the United States: ESPN
Streaming: Sportsnet+
The Buffalo Sabres have made another lineup change despite getting the win in Game 4. Lindy Ruff has united his team’s two deadline defencemen to form a third pairing of Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley, taking Conor Timmins out to create that duo. The Canadiens have been quite happy with their defence’s play at five-on-five in this series, but Martin St-Louis might still opt to make a swap on his own third pairing following a loss.
Montreal will try once again to win their minutes versus Buffalo’s top line. The Habs have handily outscored Peyton Krebs, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch at even strength. The problem has been that the Canadiens’ own top trio is also getting outscored in that situation so far, keeping things more even than they probably should be. It could be whichever of those number-one trios is able to break through with a goal in a pivotal Game 5 that makes the difference for the team that will move one win away from the Eastern Conference Final.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #15 Alex Newhook |
#71 Jake Evans |
#93 Ivan Demidov |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc |
#90 Joe Veleno |
#77 Kirby Dach |
| #85 Alexandre Texier |
#24 Phillip Danault |
#17 Josh Anderson |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #21 Kaiden Guhle |
#48 Lane Hutson |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#45 Alexandre Carrier |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj |
#53 Noah Dobson |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #75 Jakub Dobeš |
#32 Jacob Fowler |
Scratched: Owen Beck, Adam Engström, Brendan Gallagher, Oliver Kapanen, Patrik Laine, Samuel Montembeault, David Reinbacher, Jayden Struble, Florian Xhekaj
Buffalo Sabres projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #19 Peyton Krebs |
#72 Tage Thompson |
#89 Alex Tuch |
| #6 Zach Benson |
#9 Josh Norris |
#91 Josh Doan |
| #17 Jason Zucker |
#94 Konsta Helenius |
#22 Jack Quinn |
| #12 Jordan Greenway |
#71 Ryan McLeod |
#29 Beck Malenstyn |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #26 Rasmus Dahlin |
#23 Mattias Samuelsson |
| #4 Bowen Byram |
#25 Owen Power |
| #5 Luke Schenn |
#21 Conor Timmins |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen |
#34 Alex Lyon |
Injured: Sam Carrick, Justin Danforth, Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund
Scratched: Josh Dunne, Colten Ellis, Michael Kesselring, Tyson Kozak, Zach Metsa, Tanner Pearson, Logan Stanley
