Sabres level Game 6 a minute into the 2nd period
The Montreal Canadiens will be looking to clinch the second round series at home on Saturday night.
The Habs won 6-3 in Game 5, and if they win tonight, earn the right to play the Carolina Hurricanes in Round 3.
Taking a look back at the series, the Sabres won Game 1 by a score of 4-2, while the Habs responded with a 5-1 victory in Game 2. The series shifted to Montreal, where the Canadiens got their second victory winning 6-2 in Game 3, before the Sabres won Game 4 by a score of 3-2. Game 5 was back in Buffalo, where the Canadiens won 6-3.
CityNews will have coverage of Game 6, with puck drop being at 8 p.m. ET.
Game coverage
Before the game even started, Habs fans were proudly singing “Olé, Olé, Olé,” making it the only thing that could be heard around the Bell Centre.
Rasmus Dahlin opened the scoring just 32 seconds into Game 6, when he wristed the puck up over the shoulder of Jakub Dobeš. The goal would come after Juraj Slafkovský fell in the neutral zone, and turned over the puck.
Just over a minute later, Arber Xhekaj would get his first goal in 49 games and his first NHL playoff goal, when Jake Evans won a faceoff in the Sabres end, cleanly to Xhekaj, who would then send a shot from the blue line into the net to level the game at 1-1.
ARBER XHEKAJ ????️????️????️
WE’RE TIED ???? pic.twitter.com/85pW0ulJJF
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 17, 2026
Ivan Demidov would give the Canadiens their first lead of the game when he blasted a shot past Alex Lyon from his knee. The goal would come on a power play.
IVAN DEMIDOV ????????????
HABS LEAD IN GAME 6! pic.twitter.com/wNa6QtfKRH
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 17, 2026
After Dobeš and Dahlin took penalties, Jake Evans would break out of the Habs’ zone, and charge into the Sabres’ end before firing a puck under the arm of Lyon for a shorthanded goal.
Evans goal would lead to Lyon being pulled and replaced between the pipes by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, after allowing three goals on three shots.
JAKE EVANS SCORES A SHORTY AND MONTREAL IS AN ELECTRIC FACTORY RIGHT NOW ???????????? pic.twitter.com/fCTmfNZdTr
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 17, 2026
Nearing six minutes remaining in the first period, Jason Zucker would get the Sabres’ second goal of the game on a power play, redirecting a pass from Jake Norris past Dobeš.
The Buffalo Sabres would level the game just a minute into the second period, when Bowen Byram fired a shot from the blueline that would squeak through Dobeš and would be picked up by Zach Benson, who would put the puck into the net to make it 3-3.
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