Not two words Montreal Canadiens fans wanted to hear after Saturday night.

Game 7.

Still, that’s where this series is headed after the Buffalo Sabers owned the final 40 minutes at the Bell Center.

After Rasmus Dahlin scored 32 seconds into the game, Montreal jumped out to the lead on the Buffalo Sabres, scoring three goals in the first period on the sticks of Arbor Zekhaj, Ivan Demidov and Jake Evans.

After Lindy Ruff picked off Ukka Pekka-Lukkonen in Game 6, they immediately pulled him for Alex Lyon after a Montreal barrage in the first period.

Hubbs convinced the crowd that it was over before it really even started. But a key high-sticking penalty from Mike Matheson helped the Sabers claw back a goal on the power play thanks to Jason Zucker, giving the game a 3–2 lead heading into the first intermission.

Only then can you feel the change in speed.

In the second the buffalo came out flying. Zach Benson tied it early, then Jack Quinn hit a snapshot on the power play to put them ahead. Consta Helenius added an insurance marker to give Buffalo its first and indefinite multi-goal lead of the game, sending Buffalo into the second intermission with a 5–3 lead.

All were subs in the third period. Quinn added his second power-play marker of the night, and Taj Thompson finished it with an empty-net goal.

Still, with the goaltender back in net for Buffalo, Zack Metsa scored his first in the playoffs, while the man added insult to injury by taking advantage late, leading Montreal to an 8–3 loss.

With a few minutes left in the third period, an uproar broke out and tempers flared. Six miscues between whistles were handed down to an extracurricular activity, making the appeal of Game 7 even stronger.

Buffalo dominated the shot clock 36-22 and owned special teams on Saturday night.

This was the reaction everyone in Western New York wanted after the Habs took on Don Buffalo on their field in Game 5, while Montreal fans were hoping to wrap up the series tonight.

Instead, the Canadiens’ early multi-goal lead vanished, and now they await a similar elimination to the Sabres.

The series heads back to KeyBank Center for Game 7 on Monday.

James is the fully certified New Jersey Devils beat reporter for New Jersey Hockey Now on SportsNote and … More about James Nicholls

It’s official, the Montreal Canadiens will be participating in more playoff hockey, having won their first round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Canadiens were victorious in Game 7, winning 2–1 against the Bolts, and taking a 4–3 series victory in the process.

This can only be seen as a significant step forward for the organization, as they were clearly the underdogs heading into the series, and yet, they rarely allowed the Lightning to establish a single-goal lead.

They also took the lead in high-danger scoring chances for the majority of the series, which was the driving force behind their first-round win, along with some other factors including Jacob Dobbs’ goaltending and Montreal’s scoring depth.

Next playoff opponent

The Canadiens will face the Buffalo Sabers in the second round of the 2026 NHL playoffs, and given that they finished the regular season with 109 points, three more than the Habs, Buffalo will maintain home-ice advantage in the series.

Buffalo picked up its first-round win by defeating the Boston Bruins 4–1 on Friday, with Alex Tuch (4), Mattias Samuelsson (2), and Zach Benson (2) providing the offense for the Sabres, while David Pastrnak (3) was the only scorer for the Bruins.

The Habs have the wind in the air, but this could turn out to be a very tough series, as Buffalo is a bad matchup from a stylistic standpoint. Montreal and Buffalo split their four-game season series, but there were stretches in which the Sabers defeated the Canadiens by much larger margins.

Such is life in the NHL playoffs.

To be the best, you have to beat the best, and the Sabers are certainly one of the best teams in the NHL this year.

Canadiens Vs. Sabers second round schedule

• game 1 – Wednesday, May 6 at 7 pm KeyBank Center
• game 2 – Friday, May 8 at 7 pm KeyBank Center
• game 3 – Sunday, May 10 at 7 pm Bell Center
• game 4 – Tuesday, May 12, 7 pm Bell Center
• *game 5 – Thursday, May 14, TBD | KeyBank Center
• *game 6 – Saturday, May 16, TBD | Bell Center
• *game 7 – Monday, May 18, TBD | KeyBank Center

*if necessary.

Mark has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for the Journal Metro, The Athletic, The… More about Mark Dumont

The New York Islanders missed a big opportunity to keep their playoff hopes alive, losing 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabers at KeyBank Center on Tuesday night.

Despite being outshot by the Sabers most of the night, they were tied 2–2 when Anders Lee’s pass from the goal line to the right of Buffalo goaltender Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen went off the skate of Sabers defenseman Owen Power and into the net with 6:21 remaining. But poor defensive coverage cost the Pittsburgh Penguins an 8-3 loss on Monday, causing them to suffer again when Alex Tuch drove down the left sideline, circled the net and found a wide-open Peyton Krebs.

Seeing some fouls, Krebs hit a shot over Ilya Sorokin with 3:01 remaining to put Buffalo ahead 3–2.

“I think Bo (Horvat) or (Matthew) Schaefer could have stayed in front of the net and defended there,” coach Patrick Roy said.

Bowen Byram’s empty-netter with 1:42 remaining proved to be the game-winner when Brayden Schenn scored with two seconds remaining.

Despite the loss, the Islanders finished third in the Metropolitan Division as only one of the teams they were in contention for a playoff spot won their game. The Penguins moved three points ahead of the Islanders after defeating the Detroit Red Wings 5–1. But the Columbus Blue Jackets, who could have overtaken them with a win, lost 5–2 to the Carolina Hurricanes at home.

The Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators, who are struggling to overtake the Islanders in the playoff race, also lost.

The Islanders have a welcome two days off before the back-to-back matches. They’ll host the Flyers on Friday before traveling to Carolina for their final road game on Saturday.

Each team got a power play in the first three minutes, with Carson Soucy going for high-sticking 41 seconds into the game and Buffalo’s Josh Norris called for pass interference at 1:31.

Isles had four of the first six shots of the game before the Sabers began to take control, pushing the pace and forcing Sorokin to make some good saves. But Buffalo finally got on the board when Jack Quinn scored a power-play goal at 14:19.

With Adam Pelech ruled out of a high-sticking penalty, New York cleared at the right point; Casey Cizikas and Jean-Gabriel Pageau appeared to get in each other’s way and lose the puck battle to Norris. He slid the puck to the open left point, where Quinn was entering the play on a line change. Nobody stepped up to Quinn, who raced into the left circle before hitting a shot to give Sorokin a 1–0 lead.

Sorokin cut the deficit to one just before the 15-minute mark when he denied Brent Malensteen on a wide-open backhander from the slot after another failed clear. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Sabers held the Islanders without a goal for more than 11 minutes and had only four high-danger chances in the first 20 minutes. Buffalo finished the period with a 12-6 differential in shots and a 23-11 edge in attempts.

The Sabers controlled the game for the first few minutes of the second period, before Anders Lee was given a penalty shot at 6:34 after Power slashed him on a breakaway. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made a great save on Lee’s backhander, but the play appeared to wake up the Isles, who began spending more time in the Sabres’ zone.

They got a break when under pressure defenseman Mattias Samuelsson backhanded the puck into the crowd for a delay of game penalty at 17:41. Ritchie tied the game 16 seconds later, taking a feed from Brayden Schenn off a perfect passing play initiated by Bo Horvat and scoring into the empty net to make the score 1–1. It remained that way until the end of the period, with the Isles outshooting Buffalo 9–7, although the Sabers had a 6–5 edge in high-danger chances.

Lee was not penalized for the late-period hit that sent Norris’ face into the glass, but he had to answer the bell when ex-Ranger Sam Carrick challenged him after a face-off early in the third period. Lee threw the former Rangers center on the ice and he went to the locker room with a shoulder injury. But this game seemed to put the pressure on the Sabers – especially when Soucy was sent off for holding at 1:28. Tage Thompson’s power-play goal at 2:40 put Buffalo ahead 3–2.

Lee’s fluke goal gave the Islanders the tie and gave them hope that they could go home with at least a point after overtime. Krebs’ goal dashed those hopes.

Key takeaways from the Islanders’ 4-3 loss to the Sabers

lucky losers/missed opportunities

All things considered, the Isles came away with a discouraging loss that they expected. They finished the night just as they started it – third in the Metro, one point ahead of Columbus (which has the second wild card in the East and has played one less game), and two points in front of Ottawa, Detroit and Philadelphia – though all three have two games in hand in New York.

None of the contenders play on Wednesday, but they are all back in action on Thursday.

The Islanders looked disorganized in the second half of their loss to the Penguins and were outplayed by the Sabers for long periods. The two-day break comes at a good time, but the Monday-Tuesday loss exposed the Isles’ defensive issues and their erratic special teams, and they have a lot of cleaning up to do before the Flyers come to UBS on Friday for the second half of a back-to-back.

Sorokin hit back

Roy surprised many observers by starting Sorokin one night after the Penguins allowed seven goals before being removed. He was at no fault for any of the three goals scored before the empty-netter – and that was the biggest reason the Islanders won.

“He was excellent,” Roy said. “He made some very good saves and unfortunately for us he gave up two goals on the power-play.”

The Sabers had a 12-3 advantage in high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick (it was 15-9 in all situations). Sorokin was brilliant in the first round, when the Isles suffered a defeat and fell behind by only one goal.

He will certainly be happy with the two-day break, which could give him a chance to play against both the Flyers and Hurricanes.

PK was not good

The Islanders picked a bad night to give up their first power-play goal in six games – although they had only faced six opposition power plays over the course of their last five games.

Quinn’s goal came when he fell behind, failed to clear the area and allowed Quinn to run unimpeded down the left. Thompson, one of the NHL’s deadliest shooters, found a soft spot in the middle of the coverage and beat Sorokin – who had not seen the shot.

With one of the NHL’s worst power plays, the Islanders can’t afford another bad night by the penalty killer.

Jon Krieger covered his first New York Rangers game (against the California Golden Seals) in November 1975 and it… More about Jon Krieger

The Olympic break is over and the NHL schedule resumes tonight. Upon their return to the docks the New Jersey Devils will host the Buffalo Sabers in one of eight games. It’s a quick turnaround from the Olympic Games, with Team USA celebrating their victory in Miami and then visiting the White House in Washington, D.C., so will Devils franchise forward Jack Hughes play tonight in Newark?

According to the Devils, Hughes will not participate in Wednesday’s morning skate after returning to New Jersey from the White House late Tuesday night.

However, he would hold a press conference after the game that would detract from the post-game locker room media brawls with the players and head coach Sheldon Keefe.

The Devils expect Hughes to be ready and playing against the Sabers when the puck drops around 7:08 pm ET.

Hughes scored the golden goal for Team USA to lead them past Canada, capping a tremendous tournament for the Devils franchise after facing some criticism before the start of the Olympic Games.

Hughes scored four goals—leading Team USA—and seven points in six games during the tournament.

What started as a trial run on the fourth line after a disappointing 4-nation face-off tournament last season ended with glory as he became America’s hero, helping capture gold for the first time since the 1980 Miracle on Ice.

Now, the focus turns back to New Jersey where the Devils have a 2.4% chance of making the playoffs. The Devils have 25 games remaining on their schedule, and they are 11 points out of a playoff position behind the New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division and the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference wild card race.

In 36 games for the Devils this season, Hughes scored 12 goals and 37 points despite missing 21 games due to two separate injuries.

James is the fully certified New Jersey Devils beat reporter for New Jersey Hockey Now on SportsNote and … More about James Nicholls