{"id":627,"date":"2026-05-17T20:06:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T20:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627"},"modified":"2026-05-17T20:06:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T20:06:19","slug":"topsy-turvy-sabres-canadiens-2nd-round-playoff-series-to-be-decided-with-game-7-at-buffalo-on-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627","title":{"rendered":"Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff\u2019s bid to relinquish home-ice advantage has fallen on deaf ears. Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, meantime, was busy citing physics in looking forward.<\/p>\n

Read more Neymar angry at being accidentally substituted in last match before Brazil announces World Cup squad<\/a><\/p>\n

Odd as it might sound, the comments were befitting of a logic-defying, momentum-elusive NHL second-round playoff series that comes down to Game 7 on Monday night at Buffalo (7:30 p.m. EDT, ESPN) \u2014 as much as Ruff would\u2019ve welcomed a change of venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t get switched,\u201d Ruff said on Sunday with a chuckle, referring to Buffalo\u2019s 2-4 home record this postseason. \u201cBut we\u2019re looking forward to giving our fans our best game.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Montreal, St. Louis turned to science in explaining why he prefers having the Canadiens \u201cbounce forward\u201d as opposed to bounce back following an 8-3 loss in Game 6 at home on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel bounce back, you come back to where you were,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cBounce forward, you\u2019re actually further than where you were. Physics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hurricanes waiting in the wings<\/h3>\n

Einstein aside, someone\u2019s going to advance, with the well-rested Carolina Hurricanes awaiting who they\u2019ll host in opening the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday night. Carolina swept both its series, and has been off since a 3-2 overtime win over Philadelphia on May 9.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess who they\u2019ll face based on a series that has so far favored the road team, involved 20 of the 45 goals scored in the first period, featured a carousel of in-game goalie shuffles, and rewarded Buffalo for not practicing after not skating in the days leading to Game 6.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s outcome, perhaps, best captured the topsy-turvy essence with Montreal jumping to a 3-1 lead by the 10:14 mark of the first period, before giving up seven straight goals. The opposite happened in Game 5, in which the Sabres led 3-2 by the 10:15 mark of the first period, before losing 6-3 in Buffalo.<\/p>\n

Ruff is so focused on making Game 7 feel like a road outing, he\u2019s considered the Sabres spend Sunday night in a Buffalo hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know the answer. I can try to make one up,\u201d Ruff said of his team\u2019s 5-1 road record.<\/p>\n

The Canadiens are drawing upon replicating their first-round series win over the Lightning. After a 1-0 loss at home in Game 6, the Canadiens followed with a 2-1 series-clinching win at Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

Read more Kurt Kitayama becomes 2nd player with a Sunday 63 in PGA Championship history<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing to have this effort on home ice. We can\u2019t let that be our last game,\u201d captain Nick Suzuki said of dropping to 2-4 at Montreal. \u201cWe\u2019ve been in this situation already, so we have experience, and we just got to win one game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Relative playoff newcomers<\/h3>\n

Montreal and Buffalo are the two youngest teams by average age still in contention, and both relative recent playoff newcomers. The Sabres are in the postseason for the first time in 15 years, while the Canadiens are making their fourth appearance in nine years.<\/p>\n

Montreal has the Game 7 experience edge by virtue of beating Tampa Bay. Buffalo\u2019s lineup features just eight players who have appeared in a Game 7.<\/p>\n

They include forward Alex Tuch, who previously went 2-1 in seventh games during his four-year tenure with Vegas. The loss stands out most, given how the Golden Knights allowed four third-period power-play goals in an 5-4 overtime loss to San Jose in a 2019 first-round series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to try to give some of my wisdom, but at the same time, I don\u2019t want to talk too much about my past experiences or what could go right or what can go wrong,\u201d Tuch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said it a hundred times, you got to go out there and just play hockey,\u201d he added. \u201cI think we\u2019re the better team. I think we\u2019re going to come out and compete hard, and that\u2019s all we can control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, the Sabres are 1-6 in Game 7, with their only series victory coming in a 1997 first-round matchup over Ottawa. Montreal is 16-9, tied for the NHL lead with Boston in Game 7 wins.<\/p>\n

Goaltending is a question, with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen expected to start after being pulled in Game 5. On Saturday, he stopped all 18 shots in taking over after Alex Lyon allowed three goals on four shots.<\/p>\n

Jakub Dobes is Montreal\u2019s expected starter. The rookie was yanked after allowing six goals on 33 shots in Game 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery loss is hard to sleep on, but in playoffs, it\u2019s really after midnight you move on,\u201d Canadiens veteran forward Phillip Danault said. \u201cI know we\u2019re young, but there\u2019s no excuses. We know how we can play and we know how good we can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney involved in early crash at NASCAR All-Star Race<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/stanley-cup and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff\u2019s bid to relinquish home-ice advantage has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTopsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday - Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff\u2019s bid to relinquish home-ice advantage has...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-17T20:06:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/943a5ffa1ff299cbbfa1c42637a181b6.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"881\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"headline\":\"Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-17T20:06:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627\"},\"wordCount\":862,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/943a5ffa1ff299cbbfa1c42637a181b6.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627\",\"name\":\"Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday - Raleigh Moving News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/943a5ffa1ff299cbbfa1c42637a181b6.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-17T20:06:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/943a5ffa1ff299cbbfa1c42637a181b6.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/943a5ffa1ff299cbbfa1c42637a181b6.webp\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":881},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=627#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Raleigh Moving News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday - Raleigh Moving News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday - Raleigh Moving News","og_description":"BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff\u2019s bid to relinquish home-ice advantage has...","og_url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627","og_site_name":"Raleigh Moving News","article_published_time":"2026-05-17T20:06:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":881,"url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/943a5ffa1ff299cbbfa1c42637a181b6.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"headline":"Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday","datePublished":"2026-05-17T20:06:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627"},"wordCount":862,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/943a5ffa1ff299cbbfa1c42637a181b6.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627","name":"Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday - Raleigh Moving News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/943a5ffa1ff299cbbfa1c42637a181b6.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-17T20:06:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/943a5ffa1ff299cbbfa1c42637a181b6.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/943a5ffa1ff299cbbfa1c42637a181b6.webp","width":1280,"height":881},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=627#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens 2nd-round playoff series to be decided with Game 7 at Buffalo on Monday"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/","name":"Raleigh Moving News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}