Will the home Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens in their deciding Game 7 of their series?
68% of users predicted YES — the community missed this one. 34 predictions cast.
Alex Newhook scored at 11:22 of overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on May 18, 2026, at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Phillip Danault and Zachary Bolduc also scored for Montreal, while Rasmus Dahlin and Jordan Greenway found the net for the Sabres.
Buffalo had entered the series as the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division and held home-ice advantage for the deciding game. The Sabres had forced Game 7 by scoring seven consecutive goals to win Game 6 on the road. Despite that momentum swing, Montreal’s defense held in regulation and Newhook’s overtime goal closed the series.
The Canadiens advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the COVID-era 2021 playoffs and will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the next round. The series included three overtime games across its seven contests, reflecting how evenly matched the teams were throughout. The community gave Buffalo a 68% probability to close out the series on home ice in Game 7; the Canadiens prevailed instead.