Montreal Canadiens vs Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres could hardly have asked for a better start. Dahlin opened the scoring just 32 seconds into the contest, hammering home a feed from Mattias Samuelsson with Zach Benson providing the secondary assist. It was Dahlin's third goal of the playoffs.

Montreal answered emphatically. Arber Xhekaj tied it at 1:40, and Ivan Demidov put the Canadiens ahead on the power play at 8:12, fed beautifully by Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield. Jake Evans then made it 3-1 with a shorthanded strike at 10:14, sending the Bell Centre crowd into a frenzy and chasing Lyon from the net after just three goals on four shots.

Jason Zucker pulled one back for Buffalo on the power play at 13:56, converting from Josh Norris and Jack Quinn to cut the deficit to 3-2 heading into the first intermission.

If the opening frame belonged to Montreal's offence, the second period belonged entirely to Buffalo's resolve. Zach Benson tied the game just one minute into the middle frame, finishing a slick buildup from Tage Thompson and Bowen Byram.

Jack Quinn, scoreless through his first 10 career playoff games, broke through in a big way. His power-play goal at 10:54 — with assists from Dahlin and Thompson — gave Buffalo its first lead since the opening minute. Konsta Helenius extended it at 12:59, burying a pass from Zucker with Dahlin also drawing an assist.

"We just settled down," Quinn said post-game. "Once Ukey (Luukkonen) came in and made those saves, we knew we could just play our game."

Jakub Dobes, who had been excellent for Montreal through the first five games, was beaten for six goals on 33 shots before giving way to Jacob Fowler in the third period.

Buffalo poured it on in the final frame. Quinn's second of the night — a power-play snipe at 9:58, again set up by Thompson and Dahlin — made it 6-3. Tage Thompson scored his fifth of the playoffs into an empty net at 14:12, and Zach Metsa capped the scoring with a power-play goal at 17:49 in his playoff debut.

The eight goals set a Sabres road playoff record. Dahlin's five-point night (1+4) tied Derek Roy (2006) and John Tucker (1988) for the most points by a Sabre in a single playoff game in franchise history. Thompson finished with four points (1+3), while Quinn's two goals were his first career playoff tallies.

Buffalo's power play was clinical, going 4-for-8 on the night. The Sabres are now 9-for-24 (37.5%) with the man advantage in the series.

The Sabres, who finished second in the Eastern Conference during the regular season (42-23), kept their season alive in emphatic fashion. Montreal, the fourth seed in the East (34-24), could not close out the series on home ice despite a dream start.

"We believed," Quinn added. "Nobody in this room thought it was over. We've been counted out before."

Game 7 will be played on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The winner advances to the Eastern Conference Final. The Canadiens won Games 4 and 5 in Buffalo earlier in the series, while the Sabres have proven they can win in Montreal.

This series, already one of the most thrilling of the 2026 playoffs, will now come down to a single winner-take-all clash.