The Montreal Canadiens have two opportunities to get to the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals. On Thursday, the Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York to take a three games to two lead in the best out of seven Eastern Conference semifinals series.
Nick Suzuki of London, Ontario led the Canadiens in scoring with three points, as he had one goal and two assists. There was one other Canadian on the Canadiens who had a multi-point game, as Phillip Danault of Victoriaville, Quebec had two assists.
Two other Canadians scored for the Canadiens. Josh Anderson of Burlington, Ontario scored the game-tying goal at 8:01 of the second period to tie the game at three goals apiece. Then, Jake Evans of Toronto, Ontario scored the game-winning goal with three minutes and 45 seconds left in the second period to put the Canadiens up 4-3.
Juraj Slafkovsky, the 2022 first overall pick, had three assists for three points. Canadiens star defenseman Lane Hutson, the 2025 Calder Trophy winner, had two assists. The other Canadiens goal scorers were Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov and Alexandre Texier.
The series now shifts to Montreal for game six of the series on Saturday night. A Montreal win, the Canadiens win the series, and will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals. A Sabres win, and the series returns to Buffalo for game seven on Monday night.
