Lambert confident in Canadiens' chances in East Final

MONTREAL -- It's urban legend, or perhaps it's the truth, that the last time Yvon Lambert had to pay for his own meal in his native province was on May 9, 1979.

It was the following night, 9:33 into overtime, that the forward's hero status was forever cemented in Quebec, the left-wing burying a perfect cross-ice pass from Mario Tremblay behind Boston goalie Gilles Gilbert.

Lambert's goal, still celebrated by many in this city 47 years after the fact, climaxed the famous "too many men" game, Canadiens sniper Guy Lafleur having forced overtime with a power-play goal at 18:46 of the third period, coach Don Cherry's Bruins penalized for having a sixth skater on Montreal Forum ice.

The 5-4 Game 7 victory eliminated Boston, sending the Canadiens to a five-game Stanley Cup Final breeze against the New York Rangers for their fourth straight championship.

Yvon Lambert (r.) and Serge Savard at the Canadiens' Montreal Forum bench after Lambert's overtime goal eliminated the Boston Bruins on May 10, 1979.

In conversation on Wednesday morning, his 76th birthday, Lambert laughed about the free meal story, neither confirming nor denying it.

He is fully engaged in the team's playoff run this season, as is a very large, growing Canadiens fan base. The journey resumes Thursday with Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh (8 p.m. ET, HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Lambert watched Alex Newhook score in overtime against the Sabres on Monday, eliminating Buffalo in Game 7. 

"It brought back a lot of memories," he said. "In overtime, you never know what's going to happen. Newhook is having a good playoffs (seven goals, two assists in 14 games), he's working really hard.

Yvon Lambert in a 1970s portrait, and recently in the Canadiens' Bell Centre plaza that celebrates the team's history with statues, plaques and engraved bricks.

"It's not always the first line that scores. You need the entire team to win games and that's exactly what's happening. The goaltending is excellent and of course that helps you out. It's a little tougher for the first line (of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky) but that's normal. The other team puts their best defensive players against them so that's why you need the full team."

Lambert says he's not surprised in the least that the Canadiens have pushed into the Eastern Conference Final, having picked Montreal in six games against Buffalo.

"I have confidence in them against Carolina, too," he said. "It's going to depend on goaltending for sure and the power play is going to be really important.

"We played our worst game in Game 6 against Buffalo in Montreal (an 8-3 loss). I'm sure (coach) Martin (St. Louis) had a heck of a talk with (goalie Jakub) Dobes after that. In Game 7, he played really well, stayed in his net, made some great saves. That's his job. He doesn't have to hit anybody, but he's been doing a little bit of that, too."

Yvon Lambert races for a puck with St. Louis Blues defenseman Rod Seiling, goalie Ed Staniowski keeping watch during a mid-1970s game at the Checkerdome in St. Louis.

Lambert scored 206 goals in his 683 regular-season NHL games, another 27 in 90 games postseason, but it's his sensational 1979 overtime clincher against the Bruins that's on the radar of every fan he meets. He deserves credit, too, for his overtime goal the following season that eliminated the Hartford Whalers from the preliminary round.

"(Defenseman) Serge Savard made a great play in our own end," he said, the 1979 play burned into his consciousness. "Serge took the puck off Rick Middleton and passed it to Rejean Houle. Mario (Tremblay) and I played together for seven years so I knew as soon as he had the puck from Reggie (Houle), I went straight to the net. 

"I was 100 percent sure that Mario was passing to me. If I had the puck, Mario was going to the net. When you know who you're playing with and you have confidence in each other, that's exactly what happens."

Before a playoff game against the Sabres last week, Lambert and fellow Canadiens alumnus David Desharnais sat outside Bell Centre in the team's Fan Jam, signing autographs.

From left: Canadiens alumni David Desharnais, Steve Begin, Gilbert Delorme and Yvon Lambert in the team's Bell Centre Alumni Lounge in April 2025.

"When I'm around people who are a little older, they always remember that goal and they always talk about it," he said. "Some that night were telling me, 'I was a kid, I remember your goal.' There are so many good memories for me."

Sixty-four different Canadiens in NHL history have scored overtime playoff goals. That's more than any other team, the Toronto Maple Leafs closest with 59. 

Twenty-one different Montreal skaters have ended playoff series with overtime goals a total of 23 times, from Howie Morenz in 1927 through Newhook against the Sabres.

Lambert is among 20 Canadiens with two or more scored in overtime, a list led by the six of Maurice "Rocket" Richard. Seven members of that elite group are enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame -- Morenz, Richard, Elmer Lach, Jacques Lemaire, Lafleur, Larry Robinson and Guy Carbonneau.

Yvon Lambert in 1970s Montreal Forum action against the Minnesota North Stars.

Four times, the Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup with overtime goals: Toe Blake in 1944, Lach in 1953, Henri Richard in 1966 and Lemaire in 1977.

This playoff season, three more players have joined the full list with their first Canadiens overtime goals: Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson in Games 1 and 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Newhook in sudden-death Game 7 of the second round against the Buffalo Sabres.

Newhook's dramatic series-clincher came against the team for whom Lambert played in 1981-82, his last of nine full NHL seasons.

Lambert didn't begin skating until age 15, too occupied with chores on the family farm near Drummondville, Quebec to think much about hockey. But four years later, he would flourish in junior, scoring 50 goals with 51 assists for the 1969-70 Drummondville Rangers, catching the eye of the Detroit Red Wings.

Yvon Lambert shakes hands with Edmonton Oilers superstar Wayne Gretzky at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on Nov. 22, 2003, following the MegaStars alumni game preceding the Heritage Classic.

Detroit selected him in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft (No. 40), assigning him to Port Huron of the International Hockey League. When the Red Wings left him unprotected in the NHL's 1971 reverse draft, the Canadiens eagerly claimed him and sent him to the American League's Nova Scotia Voyageurs. 

Lambert appeared in one game for the 1972-73 Canadiens, skating just one shift with Lafleur and Marc Tardif before he was returned to the minors.

But he'd be back for good in 1973-74, his first two NHL goals coming against the Sabres on Nov. 17, 1973. Lambert would score 32 goals with 35 assists in both 1974-75 and 1975-76, winning his first of four Stanley Cup titles in 1976, adding three more consecutively 1977-79.

Left on Canadiens waivers, Sabres coach Scotty Bowman plucked Lambert for his roster, having coached him through the 1970s with Montreal. He scored 25 goals with 39 assists in 1981-82, finishing his pro career with two seasons on the Sabres farm in Rochester from 1982-84.

Lambert has been a hugely popular Canadiens alumnus the past four decades, a man-about-town who energetically throws himself into myriad good causes, whether it's making appearances for the team or serving as a boisterous auctioneer at charity functions.

Montreal Canadiens alumni pose during the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs in front of the team's Bell Centre showcase of 24 Stanley Cup miniatures. From left: Guy Carbonneau, Rejean Houle, Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Yvon Lambert, Patrice Brisebois and Gilbert Dionne.

He's the unofficial mayor of the Canadiens' Alumni Lounge on game nights, parked at the same table, happy to sign autographs, pose for photos and share stories about the team's most recent dynasty, and he's recognized wherever he goes in Montreal.

Lambert will keep an eye on the Canadiens' first two games against the Hurricanes even if he's not parked in front of a TV, before he settles at Bell Centre for Games 3 and 4.

After a 76th birthday lunch with friends on Wednesday, he was booked solid for three days -- a charity auction at a Montreal-area golf club on Thursday, the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix gala on Friday and another live auction on Saturday, in Shawinigan. He laughs about his schedule, crediting his wife, Danielle Caron, for "doing a great job organizing and booking everything."

At every stop this week, Lambert will be reminded of a 1979 overtime goal that defined his career and much of his life.

"Forty-seven years later, every time Montreal is in the playoffs, especially if there's a seventh game, I get calls and text messages," he said. "It's unbelievable."

Top photo: Yvon Lambert salutes Bell Centre fans during a pregame ceremony on Oct. 22, 2024.