Montreal CanadiensCanadiens48-24-10
3Final/OTMay 18, 2026
Buffalo SabresSabres50-23-9
2TVESPN
Closing line
US sportsbook at puck dropMoneyline
MTL−102
BUF−118
Puck line
MTL +1.5−245
BUF −1.5+200
Total O/U
Over 5.5−122
Under 5.5+102
- Puck line: Canadiens +1.5 covered.
- Total O/U: under 5.5 (5 goals).
Recap
The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in overtime at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on May 18, 2026 to move to 48-24-10.
Montreal won the series 4-3. The Canadiens won despite being outshot 39-25.
Score by period
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| BUF | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
W: Dobes · L: Luukkonen
Scoring plays
First Period
- MTLGoal · 4:30Phillip Danault Goal (1) Deflected, assists: Kaiden Guhle (6), Alexandre Texier (4)1-0
- MTLGoal · 14:29Zachary Bolduc Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Nick Suzuki (9), Lane Hutson (12)2-0
Second Period
- BUFGoal · 13:19Jordan Greenway Goal (2) Deflected, assists: Mattias Samuelsson (4), Beck Malenstyn (2)2-1
Third Period
- BUFGoal · 6:27Rasmus Dahlin Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Owen Power (6), Ryan McLeod (4)2-2
Overtime
- MTLGoal · 11:22Alex Newhook Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Alexandre Carrier (4)3-2
Team stats
MTLBUF
- Shots
- 25
- 39
- Power Play Goals
- 1
- 0
- Faceoff Win Percent
- 46.4
- 53.6
- Hits
- 28
- 21
- Blocked Shots
- 22
- 12
- Penalty Minutes
- 2
- 2
Top performers
Montreal CanadiensBuffalo Sabres
Goals
Alex Newhook1
Jordan Greenway1
Assists
Alexandre Carrier1
Beck Malenstyn1
Points
Phillip Danault1
Jordan Greenway1
Player stats
Canadiens · Forwards
| Player | BS | HT | TK | +/- | TOI | G | A | S | SOG | FO% | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Anderson RW | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17:10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Zack Bolduc RW | 1 | 3 | 1 | -1 | 9:11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Cole Caufield RW | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21:16 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Kirby Dach C | 1 | 4 | 0 | -1 | 8:58 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Phillip Danault C | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 17:16 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 53.8 | 2 |
| Ivan Demidov RW | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 22:19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Jake Evans C | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22:33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 | 0 |
| Oliver Kapanen C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4:45 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33.3 | 0 |
| Alex Newhook C | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 19:52 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Juraj Slafkovsky LW | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23:07 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Nick Suzuki C | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 29:30 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0 | 0 |
| Alexandre Texier LW | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17:51 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
Canadiens · Defense
| Player | BS | HT | TK | +/- | TOI | G | A | S | SOG | FO% | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandre Carrier D | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27:03 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Noah Dobson D | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 26:30 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Kaiden Guhle D | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 22:52 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Lane Hutson D | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 31:17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Mike Matheson D | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 31:28 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Arber Xhekaj D | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1:52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
Canadiens · Goalies
| Player | GA | SA | SV | SV% | TOI | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jakub Dobes G | 2 | 39 | 37 | .949 | 71:22 | 0 |
Sabres · Forwards
| Player | BS | HT | TK | +/- | TOI | G | A | S | SOG | FO% | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zach Benson LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 24:07 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 |
| Josh Doan RW | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 18:38 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Jordan Greenway LW | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11:11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Konsta Helenius C | 1 | 3 | 0 | -1 | 16:37 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9.1 | 0 |
| Peyton Krebs C | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11:13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 66.7 | 0 |
| Beck Malenstyn LW | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10:42 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Ryan McLeod C | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20:39 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 68.8 | 0 |
| Josh Norris C | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 21:37 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 69.2 | 0 |
| Jack Quinn RW | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 19:12 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Tage Thompson C | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 21:56 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Alex Tuch RW | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 21:25 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 100.0 | 0 |
| Jason Zucker LW | 1 | 3 | 0 | -1 | 16:39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
Sabres · Defense
| Player | BS | HT | TK | +/- | TOI | G | A | S | SOG | FO% | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowen Byram D | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 28:18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Rasmus Dahlin D | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33:11 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Zach Metsa D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Owen Power D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28:47 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Mattias Samuelsson D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28:35 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Conor Timmins D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18:43 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
Sabres · Goalies
| Player | GA | SA | SV | SV% | TOI | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen G | 3 | 25 | 22 | .880 | 71:22 | 0 |
Three stars
- Alex Newhook (MTL)
- Jakub Dobes (MTL)
- Rasmus Dahlin (BUF)
Game info
VenueKeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY
Attendance19,070
OfficialsLinesman: Scott Cherrey · Referee: Jean Hebert · Referee: Wes McCauley · Referee: Garrett Rank
TVESPN · national
Last and next games
Canadiens
Sabres
- Last game: W 8-3 at MTLSat May 16
- Next game: L 3-6 at CBJThu Oct 1
- L 3-6 vs MTLThu May 14
- W 3-2 at MTLTue May 12
- L 2-6 at MTLSun May 10
Head to head
- MTL 2, BUF 4Wed May 6
- MTL 5, BUF 1Fri May 8
- MTL 6, BUF 2Sun May 10
More scores
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Scores, stats and closing line: ESPN. Prediction-market prices: Kalshi and Polymarket. Betting splits: a consensus across several sportsbooks. Odds change constantly: confirm the price at the book. 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Game details updated Oct 13, 6:12 PM ET. How game pages are made