It all comes down to Game 7 for the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens.
The winner of tonight’s do-or-die fixture will move on to challenge the Carolina Hurricanes, a dominant regular-season team that has been on fire in the playoffs.
The Sabres and Canadiens have gone back and forth throughout the series. There’s been minimal home ice advantage in this series, as each team has only won one game on home ice. If the Sabres hope to move on to the Eastern Conference finals, they’ll have to flip the script.
The Sabres and the Canadiens have each defied expectations. The Sabres, at one point in the season, sat in last place in the Atlantic Division, but a systematic change unlocked the potential of the Sabres’ roster.
As for the Habs, although they made the playoffs last season, many of their stars are very young, and their upset win over an experienced Tampa Bay Lightning squad came as a surprise to many.
Follow along with us as we break down and react to what's happening in Monday's Game 7.
Also, be sure to stay tuned to The Hockey News' YouTube and social media channels. After the matchup, we’re going live with Michael Traikos, Michael Augello, and Andrew McInnis to react to the game and series that were.
CANADIENS ELIMINATE SABRES IN GAME 7 �� | LIVE Reaction
CANADIENS ELIMINATE SABRES IN GAME 7 🚨 | LIVE Reaction Welcome to Playoff Frenzy Live by The Hockey News, where we give our live reactions and break down the latest news to all the biggest games in the Stanley Cu…
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7:20 P.M. ET – Pregame Notes
Hi, folks. Adam Proteau here. I'll be your guide through tonight's big game between the Canadiens and Sabres. How are people feeling? Who do you like to win, and why? Make your voice heard in the comments section.
(As for me, I'm sticking with my hunch prediction of the Habs to win this series. I'm looking for big things from Nick Suzuki tonight, and although I believe Montreal is going to win, I also think they're going to run into a wall in the form of the Carolina Hurricanes. But that's why they play the games, right? Teams overachieve and underachieve all the time. But I feel like the Habs will have just a little bit more offense than the roller-coaster Sabres will have. Let's see how it goes.)
8:01 P.M. ET – Update
Sorry, folks, some technical issues on my end.
Anyhow, the Canadiens get the game's first goal at the 4:30 mark when Phillip Danault scores his first goal of the playoffs. And it's not without controversy: did Danault kick the goal in? We're inclined to believe so, but it obviously wasn't judged to be a kicking motion.
8:10 P.M. ET – Update
Zac Bolduc makes it 2-0 for Montreal at the 14:29 mark with a power play goal to take the life out of the building.
8:20 P.M. ET – Update
End of the first period, Montreal holds its 2-0 lead. 11 shots for the Canadiens, nine shots for the Sabres. And my Suzuki prediction went well, as he assisted on the Bolduc goal. But the Canadiens took advanage of Buffalo's inexperience when it comes to a Game 7, and Montreal's timely goals give it a massive psychological advantage.
8:37 P.M. ET – Update
We're back for period two.
8:44 P.M. ET – Update
Sabres just make a major push to Montreal's net, and nearly score. Jakub Dobes had to be sharp there.
8:58 P.M. ET – Update
Josh Anderson gets on a breakaway at the 11:30 mark of the second, but he misses it before crashing into the net. That could've been a game-breaker for the Canadiens.
9:00 P.M. ET – Update
We're at the halfway mark of regulation time, and Buffalo is being outshot 15-12. That's a good reflection of why this game is where it is: It's a tight game and a highly-contested game, but one team is doing slightly better and playing a nearly mistake-free game. And that team is the Habs.
9:07 P.M. ET – Update
Dobes with another series of big-time saves as the Sabres try to eke out some sort of offense. There's lots of hockey left in this game, but if Montreal does win it, Dobes' play will be singled out as a key reason why. But of course, we'll have to see what he does against the mighty Carolina Hurricanes.
9:10 P.M. ET – Update
Sabres get on the scoreboard with 6:41 left in the middle frame when Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson beats Dobes from a shot right down the middle of he ice. Up unil then, the Canadiens did a good job of keeping action to the fringes of the ice, but Buffalo's surge now makes this a one-goal game. Collars are getting tighter in Montreal.
9:11 P.M. ET – Update
Note — that goal went to Jordan Greenway. In any case, the goal came about because Buffalo kept pushing into Montreal's zone.
9:20 P.M. ET – Update
Second intermission time. The Sabres made a major push qt the end of the second period, and they now are outshooting Montreal 22-18. The ice sure looked like it was tilted in Buffalo's favor, as the Sabres are showing they're desperate. The Canadiens aren't showing that nearly so much, but that's not an indicator of how the third period is going to unfold.
9:42 P.M. ET – Update
Third period is now underway.
9:49 P.M. ET – Update
Sabres get their first power play of the game at the 1:34 mark of the third. Danault called for high-sticking. Sabres' power play has been the seventh-best in the playoffs. But they really need to step up and take advantage of this opportunity, because it might not happen again.
(whispering): they didn't
9:54 P..M. ET – Update
Dobes makes an excellent save before he's bowled over by Zucker. That should be a penalty for goalie interference.
9:56 P.M. ET – Update
Sabres tie it at the 6:27 mark when Rasmus Dahlin beats Dobes. And the KeyBank Center roars back to life.
10:05 P.M. ET – Update
Sabres think they've taken the lead at the 10:01 mark, but the officials wave it off, and rightfully so. The puck that dribbled through Dobes' knees and into Montreal's net wasn't even close to going in before you can clearly hear the official's whistle. It was the right call to call off the goal. It's tough for the Sabres, but this is Game 7, and anything can happen in a Game 7.
10:10 P.M. ET – Update
Sabres fan is a glass-banger. Don't be a glass-banger.
10:14 P.M. ET – Update
Dahlin has been excellent for Buffalo throughout the playoffs, he's got a special spark tonight.
10:19 P.M. ET – Update
Another Josh Anderson (partial) breakaway with about three minutes left puts a serious scare into the crowd at the arena. It's really anyone's game, and it's headed toward overtime.
10:21 P.M. ET – Update
And we're now going to OT.
10:36 P.M. ET – Update
Who you got to score the game-and-series-winning goal? I'm going to go with Dahlin if the Sabres score, and if it's the Canadiens who win the game, I'm going with Noah Dobson as the game-winning goal-scorer.
And now, overtime has begun.
10:41 P.M. ET – Update
Buffalo has outshot Montreal 34-22. That's not a good reflection on the Habs if they lose this series.
10:46 P.M. ET – Update
Dobes has to make a spectacular save on Buffalo star Tage Thompson, as the Sabres push into the Montreal zone. This feels like a series where one team, despite being outmatched, is going to come up with an unexpected goal from an unexpected player. Sorry, Sabres fans, but I think that's what is going to happen. But I'm open to persuasion.
10:56 P.M. ET – Update
Alex Newhook wins it for the Habs.
11:08 P.M. ET – Update
Newhook puts in his seventh of the playoffs to give Montreal the win, but the scoring play started at the other end of the ice, when a Sabres turnover led to a breakout up the ice, and Newhook fired the puck past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to send the Sabres home for the summer.
The Canadiens took another major step forward tonight, as they needed all their players to play a disciplined, smart game. And that's what happened. Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis pushed the right buttons, chose the right players and stayed calm when the Habs blew a 2-0 lead Monday.
And now, Montreal is only eight wins away from winning a Stanley Cup. Those wins are going to be mighty hard to come by, though. They have to play a dynamic Carolina Hurricanes team that could steal their lunch, and if they get past the Canes, they'll still have to face either the Colorado Avalanche or Vegas Golden Knights. So the Canadiens will have to claw and scratch their way to a championship.
Regardless, it's going to be great for Montreal that their rise through the ranks will continue a while longer. The Canadiens are a young, up-and-coming team that's going to put opponents on notice — the future for this Habs team is extremely bright, and they're likely only to go up from here.
