The Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens continue to be in the NHL Betting Lines hunt for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff race. Consider that Buffalo and Montreal would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.
Buffalo is becoming one of the most compelling stories in the NHL. The Sabres were written off as dead after a terrible start.
Additionally, Buffalo’s head coach, Lindy Ruff, was said to be in one of the hottest seats in the NHL. But the Sabres stuck with Ruff, a Sabres legend both as a player and in a previous stint as the head coach. Buffalo remains one of the hottest teams in the NHL with five wins in its last six games. The Sabres have emerged as one of the hottest teams in hockey.
Buffalo’s strength is on offense, where they rank 7th in the NHL for goal scoring and 18th for power play efficiency.
Defensively, the Sabres remain in the middle of the pack, ranking 14th for fewest goals against and 6th for penalty killing. Overall, these metrics are the best that Buffalo has produced in well over a decade. The Sabres are in an excellent position to end their 15-year playoff drought.
Last Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens visited the Sabres in one of the biggest games of the year. Montreal has also made gamblers smile with five payouts in its last six games.
The Canadiens have one of the most prolific offenses in the NHL, ranking 4th in goal scoring and 7th in power-play efficiency. However, the Canadiens rank 24th for fewest goals against and must cut down on that if they are to be taken seriously come playoff time. Also of concern is Montreal’s ranking of 27th for penalty killing.
Canadiens and Sabres Meet and May Meet Again
Namely, Cole Caufield scored two third-period goals, and Jakub Dobes totaled 36 saves as the Montreal Canadiens earned a 4-2 road online betting victory over the rival Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. The victory gave the Canadiens their third consecutive win, while the Sabres saw their own five-game win streak come to an end.
Alex Lyon saw his franchise-record 10-game win streak snap in a 27-save performance, with Owen Power and Noah Ostlund providing the scoring for the Sabres. In turn, Juraj Slafkovsky and Oliver Kapanen also scored for the Canadiens. Caufield tied up the contest with just over 15:46 left in the third as the Canadiens’ top goal scorer took a slick pass from Noah Dobson and redirected it past Lyon to make it 2-2.
Caufield then buried his second of the night and 32nd of the season with 9:47 left in the game. Accordingly, he took a redirected pass from Nick Suzuki and slotted it into the back of the net for the game-winning goal.
Initially, Slafkovsky struck first for the Canadiens with a power-play goal. Caufield dealt a short pass to Suzuki, who found the Slovakian sniper out front, and he made no mistake as he sent his one-timed shot into the top corner with 8:40 left in the opening frame.
Lane Hutson teed up Ivan Demidov with a golden power-play opportunity.
Next, the young forward unleashed a slap shot that Lyon squeezed tightly to his body to keep it 1-0 with 26 seconds remaining in the first. Power knotted things up 7:36 into the second period as he took a pass from Tage Thompson in the bumper spot. He fired it into the back of the net with a delayed penalty on the way.
Jack Quinn took a pass on a three-on-two and fired a slap shot toward the net that rang the post with 9:09 left in the second. Ostlund was handed a pass from behind the net and fired it into the back of the net for a lead-taking power-play marker with 1:02 remaining in the second period.
Next, the Sabres were gifted a late power-play opportunity with 3:36 left in the third, but Thompson found the iron with Buffalo’s last-gasp effort. Kapanen put a bow on the night with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
To conclude, these two teams could clash again come playoff time. Gamblers are high on the NHL Betting Odds prospects of both clubs.