Montreal Canadiens news and notes
Road success and a united mindset have the Canadiens confident heading into Game 5. [ Journal de Montreal ]
Lane Hutson is putting his bottomless tank of energy and elite instincts on full display in playoff run. [ TSN ]
Bob Gainey is tuning in and enjoying the playoff runs of the Canadiens and Montreal Victoire. [ NHL ]
Despite the rocky start and loss in Game 4, the Canadiens were pretty pleased with their overall performance. [ TSN ] ...
First period
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is in net, as the Buffalo Sabres desperately look for someone to slow down Montreal’s offence.
Luukkonen stops the first shot of the game, from Cole Caufield on a two-on-one with Juraj Slafkovský.
It’s not as energetic a start as the Sabres had in Game 3.
Alex Tuch gets a lane to the net and sends a short-side shot off the post.
Now the Sabres are beginning to make things happen. Dobeš had to shoot out his glove to deny the latest sh...
2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference SFs
Game 4: Montreal Canadiens (A3) vs. Buffalo Sabres (A1)
MTL leads 2-1
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French) In the United States: ESPN Streaming: Sportsnet+
Lindy Ruff has made two lineup changes for Game 4. Sam Carrick is out after playing on Sunday, though it seems to be more of a coach’s decision than from any injury from Arber Xhekaj’s fine-worthy punch at t...
Sixteen years ago today, the Pittsburgh Penguins were blown out in a Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens, losing the final game in the storied history of the Mellon Arena. The Penguins were the defending Stanley Cup champions and made their way to the second round of the playoffs after beating the Ottawa Senators in […]
The Montreal Canadiens and Nick Suzuki have put up fierce resistance to the Buffalo Sabres in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. In game three, the Canadiens put a damper on the hopes the Sabres rode into the second round, hanging six goals on Alex Lyon. Nick Suzki tallied an assist in the victory that night, providing a primary assist on Alex Newhook's goal at 15:14 in the third period against the Sabres. That goal was the Canadiens' sixth of the night and sealed...
We’re still in the quiet, other-teams-are-competing part of the offseason, but there was one bit of news on an Islanders player who was grinding through some injuries during the final third. Meanwhile, among those still-competing teams, Minnesota has restored possibility in its series with the Avalanche, the Canadiens have taken the lead on Buffalo, and […]
First period
The broadcast talks about the struggles of Cole Caufield and Tage Thompson, and both feature on the opening goal of the game. Caufield gets the puck alone in his own slot and makes a flip toward the blue line that goes nowhere. Rasmus Dahlin ends up getting a shot as a result, and the puck bounces off the end boards and trickles right to Thompson alone at the side of the net to get an easy goal to bust his slump.
Phillip Danault’s line gets a good chance trying to even...
2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference SFs
Game 3: Montreal Canadiens (A3) vs. Buffalo Sabres (A1)
Series tied 1-1
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French) In the United States: ESPN Streaming: Sportsnet+
With the faceoffs decidedly in the Montreal Canadiens’ favour, 62-42 after two games, the Buffalo Sabres will be inserting Sam Carrick onto the fourth line tonight, hoping that the one player they had who ...
2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference SFs
Game 3: Montreal Canadiens (A3) vs. Buffalo Sabres (A1)
Series tied 1-1
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French) In the United States: ESPN Streaming: Sportsnet+
Losing Game 1 by a bigger margin than any match in the opening round, the Montreal Canadiens responded in a big way on Friday night. With a 5-1 win, they won by four goals for the first time since March 21...
Montreal Canadiens news and notes
Phillip Danault has played a key role for the Canadiens in this post-season. [ Sportsnet ]
Danault has his post-game pizza, but now also needs to give Alex Newhook his pre-game coffee for superstitious reasons. [ TVA Sports ]
“Between whistles, he does weird things around his net. He’s in his own world.” Danault doesn’t think the Buffalo Sabres can penetrate the bubble Jakub Dobeš lives in. [ La Presse ]
Players and coaches in the Canadie...
Following up a game one in which they couldn’t get much going, the Montreal Canadiens were back in Buffalo Sabres’ territory looking to earn a split of their road games before taking the series back to the Bell Centre. This time, they got going early and didn’t look back, earning their highest margin of victory in these playoffs with a 5-1 win. While their top line played much better than they had in the first game, it was once again their depth players who did most of the damage in the win.
...
Montreal Canadiens news and notes
Jake Evans has some words of caution for any Buffalo Sabres players who want to get in Jakub Dobeš’s kitchen: “When he gets bothered, he’s even better.” [ Journal de Montreal ]
Nick Suzuki was happy with what he saw from the Newhook-Evans-Demidov line. [ The Athletic ]
Ivan Demidov has helped the Canadiens hem the Sabres in their zone when he’s on the ice. Evans wants to help turn that into goals for the rookie. [ RDS ]
With Juraj Slafkov...
2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference SFs
Game 2: Montreal Canadiens (A3) @ Buffalo Sabres (A1)
BUF leads 1-0
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French) In the United States: TNT, truTV Streaming: Sportsnet+
The Montreal Canadiens may not have been happy with the final score, and Lane Hutson wasn’t happy with his play, but Martin St-Louis seems to have liked what he saw from his team in Game 1, opting to mak...
Michel Bergeron has seen a lot of hockey in his life, and he just made quite the prediction on Kirby Dach.
The former NHL head coach and longtime Quebec hockey personality said , "Kirby Dach is going to be with the Canadiens for the next 10 years."
The Canadiens qualified for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and knocked off the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games, and Dach saw his first postseason action in six years as part of that first-round series.
Bergeron pointed specifically to ...
The Tampa Bay Lightning had another short playoff run this year, as they fell to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round in seven games. With this, the Lightning should be aggressively looking to boost their roster during the summer. One area that the Lightning could look to improve is their middle six. Because of this, it would not be surprising if they tried to reunite with one of their former players: Blake Coleman. With the Calgary Flames in a rebuild, Coleman has been a popular name in ...
Montreal Canadiens news and notes
Looking at eight aspects of the game to see who has the advantage when the Canadiens take on the Buffalo Sabres in Round 2. [ Journal de Montreal ]
According to experts, the Canadiens are going to be heading to the Eastern Conference Final. [ Journal de Montreal ]
The Canadiens are ready to take on Buffalo and their “highly addictive” city vibe. [ Sportsnet ]
After an exceptional season, Nick Suzuki lands in the top three finalists for th...
Josh Doan and Ryan McLeod each produced a goal and an assist to power the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 at KeyBank Center on Wednesday. Jordan Greenway and Bowen Byram also lit the lamp, Zach Benson had two assists, and former Florida Panthers keeper Alex Lyon made 26 saves for Buffalo, who are playing in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007. Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach scored for Montreal, who got 12 saves from Jakub Do...
First period
Lane Hutson tries to play a puck that Zach Benson left behind on his way to the net, but the defenceman gets his stick into the feet of the Sabres forward, and Buffalo gets an immediate power play to begin.
A strong kill by Montreal has settled them into this game.
Hutson gets the entire left side of the offensive zone to himself, goes in, and fires a shot off Alex Lyon’s pad and up off the crossbar.
Now Hutson stumbles along the wall and the puck goes to Ben...
2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference SFs
Game 1: Montreal Canadiens (A3) @ Buffalo Sabres (A1)
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French) In the United States: TNT, truTV Streaming: Sportsnet+
After a tight series with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Montreal Canadiens are probably hoping for a little more breathing room in their second-round match with the Buffalo Sabres. But that’s unlikely to be the case conside...
2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference SFs
Game 1: Montreal Canadiens (A3) @ Buffalo Sabres (A1)
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French) In the United States: TNT, truTV Streaming: Sportsnet+
In the regular season, the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres met four times. Each scored 13 goals, and each grabbed two wins. The teams were 1-1-0 at home, and 1-1-0 on the road in a season series that wrapped up with three...
Montreal Canadiens News and Notes
The Habs believe they have what it takes to make a deep run. [ TSN ]
Montreal’s series MVP was arguably behind the bench. [ Yahoo Sports | TVA Sports ]
Kent Hughes’ finger prints are all over this series win. [ TVA Sports ]
It was an away game, but the Bell Centre was still rocking. [ Twitter | Montreal Gazette ]
Un Centre Bell à guichets fermés. Pour un match à l'étranger. A sold out Bell Centre. For an away game. #GoHabsGo pic....
It was a disappointing finish to the season for the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team many pundits around the sport predicted to come out of the Eastern Conference. Instead, a frustrating 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of the first round (despite outshooting them 29-9) has left many questions facing the Bolts as they head into the offseason. Perhaps one question we didn't see coming, though, comes to us from insider Pierre LeBrun , who asks in The Athletic, if the Hart Trophy con...
Feel relieved, Islanders fans: the Canadiens have eclipsed the 2015 Islanders’ dubious records by recording even fewer shots in a Game 7 than the Islanders did on that terrible night in D.C. Of course the critical difference is that the Canadiens’ 9 shots (compared to the Islanders’ 11 on that frustrating night opposite Barry Trotz’s […]
Montreal Canadiens news and notes
“So young in age, but their ability to handle these things, it goes beyond how old they are,” Brendan Gallagher explains about the Canadiens’ experience of playing significant roles trumping their youth. [ The Athletic ]
The Canadiens set the NHL record for the fewest shots on goal (9) in a playoff win. [ Journal de Montreal ]
Samuel Montembeault and Jacob Fowler had a little fun at their goalie’s expense following a post-game interview. [ Jou...
Alex Newhook notched the go-ahead goal with 8:53 remaining in the third period, and the Montreal Canadiens eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 victory in Game 7 at Benchmark International Arena. Captain Nick Suzuki also scored for the upstart Canadiens, and goaltender Jakub Dobes stopped 28 shots. Dominic James lit the lamp for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made seven saves. Montreal will face the Buffalo Sabres starting on Wednesday.
Cale Makar scor...