Buffalo Falls One Goal Short in Emotional Game 7 Loss
Written By Gina Anton
The Buffalo Sabres’ playoff run ended in heartbreaking fashion Sunday night, falling 3-2 in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at KeyBank Center.
Montreal opened the scoring late in the first period when Phillip Danault redirected a point shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The Canadiens doubled the lead early in the second on a power-play goal from rookie Zachary Bolduc, putting Buffalo in a 2-0 hole.
The Sabres responded midway through the second period. Jordan Greenway scored Buffalo’s first goal after tipping a Mattias Samuelsson shot in front of the net. Greenway’s goal shifted momentum as Buffalo began controlling possession and outshooting Montreal through the second half of the game.
Rasmus Dahlin tied the game 2-2 with 8:41 remaining in regulation, blasting a slap shot through traffic after a setup from Tage Thompson. Dahlin logged more than 31 minutes of ice time and led all Buffalo defensemen in shots and puck possession chances.
Buffalo had several opportunities to win before overtime. JJ Peterka hit the post late in regulation, while Thompson generated multiple high-danger scoring chances throughout the third period.
Luukkonen finished with 22 saves for Buffalo, including several key stops in overtime to keep the Sabres alive. Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobes stopped 37 shots in the win. Buffalo outshot Montreal 39-25 overall and held a slight edge in offensive-zone time, but the Canadiens capitalized on key mistakes and special teams opportunities.
The game ended 11:22 into overtime when Lane Hutson carried the puck into the zone and fed Alex Newhook, who beat Luukkonen glove side for the series-winning goal.
“When you look around the room after a loss like that, you feel pain,” Thompson said. “You just see all the guys, and all the sacrifices and the hard work they put into the season, and not for themselves, but for the guy sitting next to them.”
Despite the loss, Buffalo completed one of the NHL’s most surprising playoff runs. The Sabres forced Game 7 after dominating Montreal in Game 6 with seven unanswered goals in a 7-2 victory on the road.
“It hurts. I told the team it hurts,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “That pain will go away, but I won’t let this one game define the season we had. I told the players how proud I was of them. The battle that we took into Game 6 in Montreal, and then we came back here and gave ourselves every chance to win. So, this one game doesn’t define our season for us.”
After the game, Sabres players remained on the ice briefly to acknowledge the crowd as fans gave the team a standing ovation following Buffalo’s deepest playoff run in years.
