MONTREAL (AP) — Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 saves after starter Alex Lyon stopped only one of the four shots he faced, and the Buffalo Sabres roared back to beat the Montreal Canadiens 8-3 on Saturday night and force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The winner Monday night in Buffalo will face Carolina for the conference title and a chance to play for the Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes swept both of their series.
The Sabres came back after trailing 3-1 midway through the first period.
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and four assists, Jack Quinn scored twice and added an assist and Tage Thompson had three assists and an empty-net goal. Zach Benson and Jack Quinn each had a goal and an assist and Konsta Helenius and Zach Metsa also scored.
Arber Xhekaj, Ivan Demidov and Jake Evans scored for Montreal. Jakub Dobes stopped 27 of 33 shots for Montreal, and Jacob Fowler made a save and allowed a goal in relief.
After Dahlin opened the scoring 32 seconds in, Montreal chased Lyon with the three-goal burst.
Xhekaj tied it at 1:40, Demidov scored on a power play at 8:12 and Evans made it 3-1 on a short-handed break with 9:46 left. Luukkonen then took over in goal, and Zucker got one back for Buffalo on a power play with 6:04 to go in the period.
Benson tied it a minute into the second, slipping in a short backhander from the left side. Quinn put Buffalo ahead on a power play with 9:06 left in the second, slapping a one-timer from the top of the right circle past Dobes. Helenius made it 5-3 with 7:01 remaining in the period, striking from short range.
Quinn added his second of the night on a power play midway through the third. Metsa capped the scoring on a power play with 2:13 to go.
Buffalo was 4 for 6 on the power play. Montreal was 1 for 3.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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