St. Louis, Canadiens continuing special journey after defeating Sabres in OT of Game 7

BUFFALO -- Before Martin St. Louis whooped for joy at seeing the puck go into the net, before he hugged any of his fellow Montreal Canadiens assistants or players after his team’s epic Game 7 overtime victory in the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Buffalo Sabres, he needed to express his gratitude in this special moment to the person who’d supported him the most.

So while his players were involved in the sheer bedlam of their raw celebration on the ice, the Canadiens coach looked up at the heavens.

“I spoke to my mother a lot during the overtime,” St. Louis revealed after the Canadiens' monumental 3-2 win Monday, one that propelled them to a matchup in the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes. 

His message to her when Canadiens forward Alex Newhook’s dipping shot beat Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at 11:22 of the extra period?

“I thanked her,” St. Louis said emotionally.

France St. Louis had been Martin’s biggest fan, from when he was a kid playing in minor hockey rinks in the Montreal area, to when he won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. Since she suddenly passed away in early May 2014 from a reported heart attack, a crushed Martin has used her as an inspiration to this day. 

And on this, arguably the most special of moments in his four-year career as coach of the Canadiens, he definitely has plenty to be thankful for.

When president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton and general manager Kent Hughes hired him on Feb 9, 2022, he’d never coached above AAA Bantam before, not to mention in the NHL.

Now, four years later, he’s led the Canadiens into the NHL’s Final Four along with the Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights. Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final will be in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, HBO Max, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS).

As he watched his young team swarm Newhook, St. Louis understood the enormity this special blip in time meant to his players. It’s an experience, he said, that can't be bought, nor can it be taught.

It just is.

“What we're going through right now, you can't buy that. It's amazing,” St. Louis said. "I'm so happy for the players to live that. It's unreal to play in the NHL. But to get to live this do-or-die situation, in terms of moving on or you're done, scoring the big goal in overtime, that feeling that a player has, it's unbelievable. 

“I'm so happy that we're getting to live that.”

They, like St. Louis, are in the midst of a special journey, one that took the next step with a game for the ages on Monday.

Much like this loony best-of-7 series, Game 7 went up and down like a yo-yo. A two-goal lead by Montreal in the first period on goals by Phillip Danault and Zachary Bolduc. Buffalo chipping away with a goal by Jordan Greenway in the second, then the equalizer by captain Rasmus Dahlin at 6:27 of the third that unleashed a roar both inside the arena and from the thousands attending the watch parties outside.

Then, with the score tied 2-2, the teams sat in their respective dressing rooms a 30-second walk from each other preparing for an overtime that would determine the winner not only for this game, but for a wacky series that at times had no rhyme or reason.

Consider that through the first six games the home team had only won twice. The margins of victories in those contests had been decisive, with only one coming by one goal. 

Now, after almost two weeks and 420 minutes of hockey, it was a case of “next goal wins.”

On the Montreal side, as the Canadiens tried to shake off Buffalo’s late-game onslaught, veteran defenseman Mike Matheson used the break to address his team. 

“It was just such a special type of pressure-cooker type of scenario,” he said. “And so, for me, it was just about reminding the guys that, 'Hey, when your 8-year-old self was dreaming about doing something in hockey, it was exactly this: Going into an overtime in Game 7.'

“So I feel that was kind of the message, just take the pressure off and go play.”

In Buffalo’s room, coach Lindy Ruff offered his players encouragement.

“Let’s get after this and try to finish the deal, really,” he told his team.

He then left the room. He wanted the Sabres to have time for themselves.

Buffalo came out for the overtime with jump and outshot the Canadiens 6-3, but it could not find a way to beat Montreal goalie Jakub Dobes. Then, about half way through, Newhook crossed the Buffalo blue line, saw an opportunity to release a shot through the legs of Dahlin and unleashed a knuckleball.

Luukkonen stuck his glove out at the puck. It wasn’t there.

It was in the net.

Cue the jubilation.

And devastation.

Of all the possible heroes, of course it ended up being Newhook. He’d scored the Game 7 winner in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2-1 victory that allowed Montreal to advance to the second round. Now here he was, celebrating yet another winner in a Game 7, this time in OT.

Surreal.

“It's a crazy feeling, a lot of emotion, obviously,” Newhook said. “It was a war all series long, and you know, for it to end up being Game 7 in overtime, sometimes it just takes one shot, and coming across the line, just thought there was a shot opportunity.”

As soon as the puck went in, a crushed Luukkonen charged off the ice and chucked his gloves against a wall. After calming down, he came back out for the traditional handshake between the teams.

“It (stinks),” Luukkonen told reporters afterward.

Ruff agreed.

“It hurts,” he said. “I told the team it hurts.” 

Not for St. Louis. Not for Newhook. And not for the city of Montreal.

“I can’t imagine what’s going on back there,” Canadiens forward Josh Anderson said. “They must be going crazy.”

He’s about to find out just how much.