The Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres will play a Game 7 after the Sabres delivered an emphatic 8-3 victory Saturday night.
Canadiens goalie Alex Lyon was pulled after allowing three goals on the first three shots. Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff's decision to start Lyon backfired immediately. Arber Xhekaj beat Lyon on a simple wrist shot, Ivan Demidov wired a power-play goal, and Jake Evans capitalized on a two-on-one to make it 3-0.
Montreal battled back to tie the game 3-3 early in the second, but Buffalo dominated from there, responding with five unanswered goals. The Sabres overwhelmed the Canadiens defensively, posting an Expected Goals share of 7.50 to 2.05. Tage Thompson, held in check for five games, changed his line and sparked the victory.
Head coach Martin St. Louis now faces his toughest test: rallying his team for Game 7 after their worst performance since November.