AT THE HORN

The Buffalo Sabres kept their season alive Saturday night with an 8-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 6 at Bell Centre.

Now, the teams are set for a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at KeyBank Center.

Just as the Sabres scored on three of their first four shots in Game 5, Montreal did the same in Game 6, chasing goalie Alex Lyon after just 10 minutes. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen entered in relief and stopped all 18 shots he faced for the win.

Buffalo responded with seven unanswered goals and locked it down defensively, allowing only six shots in the third period to close it out.

The Sabres, in turn, chased Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes for the first time these playoffs, beating him for six goals on 33 shots before Jacob Fowler entered in relief in the third.

Buffalo’s offensive outburst – eight goals set a playoff high – featured five points from Rasmus Dahlin (1+4) and four from Tage Thompson (1+3), plus multi-point showings from Jack Quinn (2+1, his first career playoff goals), Jason Zucker (1+1) and Zach Benson (1+1).

Konsta Helenius also scored for the second straight game, and Zach Metsa scored in his playoff debut.

The Sabres scored four power-play goals and are now 9-for-24 (37.5%) in the series.

Eight goals set a road playoff record for the Sabres. And Dahlin's five points tied Derek Roy (2006) and John Tucker (1988) for the single-game franchise record in the playoffs.

Statistics

At the Horn - Blue and Gold

Scoring summary

BUF 1 – MTL 0 | Period 1, 0:32 – Rasmus Dahlin (3) from Mattias Samuelsson (3) and Zach Benson (4)

BUF 1 – MTL 1 | Period 1, 1:40 – Arber Xhekaj (1) from Jake Evans (6)

BUF 1 – MTL 2 | Period 1, 8:12 (PP) – Ivan Demidov (2) from Lane Hutson (11) and Cole Caufield (5)

BUF 1 – MTL 3 | Period 1, 10:14 (SH) – Jake Evans (2) from Mike Matheson (2)

BUF 2 – MTL 3 | Period 1, 13:56 (PP) – Jason Zucker (2) from Josh Norris (2) and Jack Quinn (5)

BUF 3 – MTL 3 | Period 2, 1:00 – Zach Benson (5) from Tage Thompson (8) and Bowen Byram (3)

BUF 4 – MTL 3 | Period 2, 10:54 (PP) – Jack Quinn (1) from Rasmus Dahlin (7) and Tage Thompson (9)

BUF 5 – MTL 3 | Period 2, 12:59 – Konsta Helenius (2) from Jason Zucker (2) and Rasmus Dahlin (8)

BUF 6 – MTL 3 | Period 3, 9:58 (PP) – Jack Quinn (2) from Tage Thompson (10) and Rasmus Dahlin (9)

BUF 7 – MTL 3 | Period 3, 14:12 (EN) – Tage Thompson (5) (unassisted)

BUF 8 – MTL 3 | Period 3, 17:49 (PP) – Zach Metsa (1) from Ryan McLeod (3) and Rasmus Dahlin (10)

Full highlights

FINAL | Sabres 8 - Canadiens 3

Postgame sound

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen & Rasmus Dahlin - May 16, 2026

Lindy Ruff - May 16, 2026

Jack Quinn - May 16, 2026

Tage Thompson - May 16, 2026

Game photos

Victory speech

Inside the room after the 8-3 win!

Up next

Game 7 is Monday at 7:30 p.m. at KeyBank Center on ESPN.

As always, Brian Duff and Marty Biron’s pregame and postgame shows will be available on MSG, the Sabres’ social channels and the Buffalo Sabres App.