Alex Newhook’s wrist shot 11:22 into overtime lifted the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 Game 7 win over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Monday night, sending Montreal to the Eastern Conference Final. The season-ending loss halted Buffalo’s run and kept Montreal’s unlikely playoff surge rolling into a showdown with the Carolina Hurricanes later this week. Montreal grabbed control early, Buffalo clawed back to force overtime, and sudden-death settled a tense, back-and-forth series.
Phillip Danault opened the scoring and Zachary Bolduc added a first-period power-play strike before Jordan Greenway and Rasmus Dahlin dragged Buffalo back into the fight. Jakub Dobeš turned aside 37 shots for Montreal, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves for the Sabres, according to NHL.com.
Newhook’s clutch postseason run
Newhook ended it by snapping a low wrist shot through traffic after a cross-ice feed from Alexandre Carrier, beating Luukkonen at 11:22 of overtime. "He is just the second player in NHL history to score multiple Game 7 series-clinching goals in a single postseason," NHL.com wrote, pointing back to his earlier series winner against Tampa Bay.
What’s next
Montreal now heads to Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes, with Game 1 locked in for Thursday night in the Eastern Conference Final. Sportsnet details the remaining slate and broadcast windows for the conference matchups.
Buffalo’s season in perspective
The loss caps a breakthrough season for the Sabres, a campaign that snapped the franchise’s long playoff drought and delivered an Atlantic Division title earlier in the year. As USA TODAY and others noted in April, Buffalo returned to the postseason for the first time since 2011 and rode a late-season push into meaningful playoff hockey. The focus now shifts to whether the Sabres can build on this reset and turn one resurgent year into a sustained run as a legitimate threat.
