First period
- It’s the second line on the ice, so Martin St-Louis has learned his lesson after some rough opening shifts from the main trio. They draw an early icing call, and how the top line comes out.
- Montreal is controlling the play early. Lots of zone time.
- Oliver Kapanen gets an excellent chance at the side of the crease in his first game of the series.
- The all-important first goal in Game 7goes to Montreal. Josh Anderson dumps the puck in from centre ice, races onto it and pokes it across to Alexandre Texier behind the net. Texier sends it up to Kaiden Guhle, and his pass across the crease ends up going off Phillip Danault’s foot and in.
- That’s Danault’s fifth point of the series. It’s too bad Anderson didn’t get credited with a point after his good work, however.
- Lane Hutson pounces on a casual pass from Zach Metsa to Rasmus Dahlin and races away. He’s not fast enough to get completely free from Dahlin for a clean break, but tests Luukkonen once again on the counter-attack. As long as they stay ahead on the scoreboard, those will continue to be available.
- One shift in the offensive zone for Montreal, but they’re doing a lot of defending right now, and the Sabres are winning the board battles.
- Cole Caufield gets two great chances 10 feet in front of Luukkonen, but the goaltender makes two glove stops.
- Panicked, Zach Benson throws the puck over the glass, so Caufield will get some more looks.
- After a series of passes, Nick Suzuki finally shoots, but it goes off the shin of Caufield and wide.
- Too much passing. They’re lacking the killer instinct once again.
- Out comes Zachary Bolduc to salvage the situation. He takes a Suzuki pass and slings a one-timer to the top corner.
- Texier gets a breakaway with Dahlin lying in Montreal’s crease, makes a nice deke, but can’t elevate the puck over Luukkonen’s pad.
- The Buffalo fans are booing everything right now.
- The Habs believe they can just toss the puck along the boards and get it out of their zone, but the Sabres are pinching the puck along the boards and winning it every time. They need a less obvious breakout strategy if they want to survive this game.
- Buffalo can’t pry the puck off the boards in the final 20 seconds as it remains in the corner, and the Canadiens will take a two-goal lead to the first intermission.
Second period
- I think it’s fair to say the next goal is a very important one in this game.
- It’s Danualt’s line to begin the second.
- Dobeš is down trying to seal the post. Hutson goes into the net and squishes his pad against the post to makes sure there are no holes.
- Josh Norris goes down and his lip is bloodied behind the net, but it was Benson’s stick that got him, so there will be no penalty. It’s a good thing they can review those now.
- The crowd is being kept pretty quiet in this period so far. The Canadiens have actually increased their shot advantage since the first.
- The fans are desperate for a call now to get their team into it.
- Anderson gets a breakaway, but Luukkonen makes the save. Anderson crashes into the post after the attempt, and needs a minute to recover. It would be nice to capitalize on one of these breaks and really deflate this crowd.
- The first real pressure from Buffalo comes after a couple of giveaways from Matheson in his zone, but Dobeš theatrically snags the final shot.
- Caufield tries to find the 13-hole on Luukkonen. The save is made, but Montreal gets an offensive-zone faceoff out of it.
- Hutson’s stick breaks and Montreal is forced to defend their zone with four. Buffalo just collapses to the net, and Mattias Samuelsson fires the puck through the screen to make it a one-goal game.
- Those missed breakaways loom large now.
- They’re leaving too much space for Buffalo to just attack the zone now. Zero resistance at the blue line.
- Caufield gets the right wing all to himself and rips a shot. Luukkonen doesn’t know where the puck went, but it’s in his equipment.
- Buffalo’s most dangerous shifts are now coming versus the Suzuki line as those forwards are unable to get enough control of the puck to escape the zone.
- There’s a mad scramble in the crease as the puck slides across dangerously. It was in the crease a couple of times, but the six Habs players on the ice managed to keep it out.
- Things are getting a little dicey right now.
- Buffalo came close. The Canadiens take a one-goal lead to the second intermission, but the Sabres are feeling good about their chances now. This game is far from over, and I don’t think two goals will be enough to win it.
Third period
- A second-line shift to begin the third.
- Things are a little more composed for Montreal now. Short, quick passes between the defencemen and supporting forwards to get out of their end.
- Composed until Danault high-sticks Samuelsson in the face in the offensive zone. Buffalo goes to its first power play of the game after going four-for-six on Saturday.
- That was a nice, settling performance on the penalty kill to deny anything dangerous to Buffalo.
- Matheson fires a shot through some traffic, but it goes off the post.
- Dobeš makes a toe save and freezes the rebound. Jason Zucker drives right through his head, and the ref refuses to make a call. That’s a decision made based on Montreal being up a goal. No other reason.
- Buffalo wins the faceoff that follows the play after a commercial break. Instead of Montreal being on a power play, the game is tied 2-2. Rasmus Dahlin goes uncontested down the win, and flips the puck up over Dobeš’s shoulder.
- Juraj Slafkovský rips a shot from the top of the circle. It glances off the post and out.
- Dobeš freezes another puck, but the Sabres punch it in from under his pads. The ref correctly blew the whistle with the puck frozen, but the Sabres aren’t happy that they weren’t allowed to prod at Dobeš on that occasion.
- Buffalo is getting all the chances now as Montreal’s coverage keeps breaking down to allow players to get open near the net.
- The Newhook-Evans-Demidov line remains the only one that’s making offensive plays in these last two periods.
- Anderson blows through the defence and gets in alone on Luukkonen, but again the Canadiens can’t convert on a one-on-one with the goalie.
- The final seconds tick off the clock, and Game 7 will be decided in overtime.
Overtime
- Benson hits Dobeš in the crest with a one-timer on the first shot of OT.
- A long-range shot from Demidov goes wide on Montreal’s first look.
- Montreal has the better possession in the overtime so far. There’s no lead to protect anymore.
- Anderson fires a shot that goes off the base of the left post. A few seconds later he rips one off the right elbow. He might have nightmares of this game.
- As the shovels come out at the midpoint of the period, Montreal has had by far the most dangerous chances of OT. They look more comfortable in this situation. But they do have a deal with a defensive-zone faceoff now after a bad play by Alexandre Texier at the red line to leave the puck as it goes for icing.
- They get a save from Dobeš, and then a clear on the next faceoff.
- Fittingly, it’s the second line that gets the job done. Carrier collects a loose puck in his zone, gets it to Newhook, and the most clutch Hab in these playoffs scores a second consecutive series-winning goal!
Full play, Carrier gets it to Newhook, and UPL can't make the save
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) May 18, 2026 at 11:53 PM
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- I think the Canadiens deserved that after having the more dangerous chances of the overtime. That line had been exceptional all series long.
- One night to enjoy the win, two days to prepare for the next series, and then it’s the first game of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday night versus the Carolina Hurricanes.
EOTP 3 Stars
3) The sleep will be a little more restful now
2) Somehow, he’s got this
1) What an incredible couple of weeks for him
