Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo SabresMay 14, 2026

FinalPlayoffsThursday, May 14, 2026· KeyBank Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
MTL	2	3	1	6		MTL	11	12	3	26
BUF	3	0	0	3		BUF	9	7	20	36

: MTL 53BUF 82
: MTL 3.25BUF 3.71
PP goals: MTL 2BUF 0
Hits: MTL 19BUF 22
Blocks: MTL 25BUF 11
PIM: MTL 16BUF 16
: MTL 56%BUF 44%

Fantasy takeaways

Generated from the play-by-play, shifts and season context. No opinions, just what changed.

Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo Sabres 6–3

Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo Sabres 6–3 at BUF. Nick Suzuki (MTL) led the scoring with 1G 2A. MTL's first power-play unit (Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovský and Demidov) scored 2 power-play goals on 4 attempts in 1:33 together.

Points
Nick Suzuki had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 1 shot in 20:45.Suzuki
Points
Juraj Slafkovský had 3 assists (3 points) on 2 shots in 19:17.Slafkovský
Points
Ivan Demidov had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 5 shots in 14:44.Demidov
Points
Lane Hutson had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 20:33.Hutson
Points
Phillip Danault had 2 assists (2 points) in 16:00.Danault
PP1
MTL's first power-play unit (Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovský and Demidov) scored 2 power-play goals on 4 attempts in 1:33 together.Suzuki Caufield Hutson Slafkovský Demidov
Luck
MTL scored 6 goals on 3.25 expected goals (53 attempts), finishing well above its chances.
Usage
Conor Timmins (BUF) played 10:56, −6:21 down on his 17:17 season average over 12 games.Timmins

Shot map

Both teams on one rink, filtered by strength and period.

Shot map

Every attempt, sized by expected goals. Goals are rings, shots on goal dots, misses hollow, blocks crosses.

Strength

Period

Team

← MTL attacks left (bottom on phones)BUF attacks right (top on phones) →

BUF
MTL
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 135 of 135 attempts · BUF 82 · MTL 53

Game flow

Cumulative expected goals and shot attempts, with power plays shaded and goals marked.

Cumulative shot attempts

BUF
MTL
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

BUF pressure
MTL pressure
Goal
Control (|PI| > 0.25)

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: MTL 28% of the game, BUF 50%.

Shift chart

Every shift, grouped by line and pair; bars are coloured by strength state. Click a player to highlight.

Shifts

BUF

MTL

goals / penalties

Even strength
Power play
Penalty kill
Goal
Penalty

Head-to-head matchups

BUF skaters (rows) against MTL skaters (columns) at 5v5. Square size is time together; colour is xGF% from the BUF side.

Matchup matrix

BUF xGF% 4060square size = TOI together · blank = under 1:00

Sequence card

5-on-5 possession-chain numbers from the sequence engine (Draw Equity and control cover all situations).

Sequence card
Stat	MTL	BUF
	58	78
	3.35	3.63
	3.12	3.24
	18	17
	6	2
	17	22
	+0.020	−0.020
	28%	50%

Definitions: sequence xG, transition attempts, Draw Equity, control and the Pressure Index.

Lines used

Detected from who actually shared the ice, with time together. Percentages are the unit's share of shot attempts.

Montreal Canadiens

L1Suzuki – Caufield – Slafkovský
14:2424% CF
L2Danault – Anderson – Texier
10:4555% CF
L3Evans – Newhook – Demidov
9:5841% CF
L4Veleno – Dach – Bolduc
7:3961% CF
D1Matheson – Carrier
14:1042% CF
D2Dobson – Hutson
12:3760% CF
D3Guhle – Xhekaj
4:4222% CF

PP1Suzuki – Caufield – Hutson – Slafkovský – Demidov
1:33100% CF
PK1FDanault – Anderson
1:06
PK2FEvans – Newhook
0:50
PK1DMatheson – Guhle
1:06
PK2DDobson – Hutson
0:17

Current MTL line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Norris – Doan – Benson
14:5366% CF
L2Tuch – Thompson – Krebs
9:2224% CF
L3Zucker – Quinn – Helenius
7:0344% CF
L4Greenway – Malenstyn – McLeod
6:2667% CF
D1Samuelsson – Dahlin
11:5153% CF
D2Byram – Power
11:0171% CF
D3Schenn – Timmins
0:12

PP1Thompson – Dahlin – Quinn – Doan – Benson
1:40100% CF
PP2Zucker – Tuch – Norris – McLeod – Dahlin
0:17
PK1FGreenway – Malenstyn
1:23
PK2FTuch – McLeod
0:10
PK1DTimmins – Samuelsson
1:23

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

Box score

Skaters grouped by the line they played on; CF% is the 5v5 share of shot attempts while on the ice.

Montreal Canadiens

MTL skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Nick Suzuki C	L1	1	2	3	0	1	0.16	2	2	0	20:45	—	—	33	28
Juraj Slafkovský L	L1	0	3	3	-1	2	0.37	1	1	2	19:17	—	—	26	25
Cole Caufield R	L1	1	0	1	0	3	0.38	1	0	0	16:48	—	—	26	23
Phillip Danault C	L2	0	2	2	+1	0	0.03	1	1	0	16:00	—	—	52	63
Josh Anderson R	L2	1	0	1	+2	1	0.17	0	1	2	14:29	—	—	55	74
Alexandre Texier L	L2	1	0	1	+1	3	0.33	0	0	0	12:27	—	—	54	72
Jake Evans C	L3	1	0	1	+1	1	0.60	0	1	0	17:50	—	—	44	71
Alex Newhook C	L3	0	1	1	+1	0	0.05	1	1	10	16:15	—	—	40	65
Ivan Demidov R	L3	1	1	2	0	5	0.67	2	1	0	14:44	—	—	43	65
Joseph Veleno C	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.09	0	0	0	9:56	—	—	52	45
Zachary Bolduc R	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.05	2	0	0	9:52	—	—	64	53
Kirby Dach C	L4	0	0	0	0	4	0.16	3	0	0	9:05	—	—	64	59
Mike Matheson D	D1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.04	1	4	0	26:18	—	—	40	34
Alexandre Carrier D	D1	0	1	1	0	1	0.01	1	4	0	23:27	—	—	43	47
Lane Hutson D	D2	0	2	2	+1	1	0.03	0	0	2	20:33	—	—	50	56
Noah Dobson D	D2	0	0	0	+1	1	0.11	2	3	0	20:20	—	—	49	54
Kaiden Guhle D	D3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.00	1	5	0	20:38	—	—	30	45
Arber Xhekaj D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	1	0	7:16	—	—	30	24

MTL goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Jakub Dobes(start)	W	36	33	3	.917	3.71	60:00

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Josh Doan R	L1	1	0	1	0	3	0.26	3	0	0	21:32	—	—	60	65
Zach Benson L	L1	0	0	0	0	1	0.32	0	1	10	21:04	—	—	69	72
Josh Norris C	L1	0	0	0	0	4	0.70	1	0	0	20:32	—	—	69	77
Tage Thompson C	L2	0	0	0	-2	3	0.14	0	0	2	20:05	—	—	41	25
Alex Tuch R	L2	0	0	0	-2	2	0.15	4	2	0	16:59	—	—	43	42
Peyton Krebs C	L2	0	0	0	-2	1	0.14	0	0	0	14:46	—	—	41	18
Jack Quinn R	L3	0	1	1	+2	3	0.32	0	0	0	16:10	—	—	65	81
Jason Zucker L	L3	1	0	1	+1	2	0.17	1	0	0	13:35	—	—	52	60
Konsta Helenius C	L3	1	0	1	+1	2	0.30	1	0	0	11:47	—	—	44	52
Ryan McLeod C	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.18	1	0	0	13:23	—	—	80	80
Jordan Greenway L	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.01	1	1	0	10:03	—	—	57	9
Beck Malenstyn L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.02	6	1	0	9:21	—	—	73	48
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	1	1	0	3	0.47	0	0	2	27:28	—	—	48	49
Mattias Samuelsson D	D1	0	1	1	0	5	0.16	1	3	0	25:27	—	—	60	62
Owen Power D	D2	0	1	1	0	0	0.10	2	1	0	21:52	—	—	62	59
Bowen Byram D	D2	0	0	0	0	4	0.25	0	2	2	21:47	—	—	63	52
Conor Timmins D	D3	0	1	1	-1	1	0.01	1	0	0	10:56	—	—	46	25
Luke Schenn D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	0	0	8:01	—	—	71	60

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)	L	23	18	5	.783	2.63	40:00
Alex Lyon	—	3	2	1	.667	0.43	13:39

Goal anatomy

Animated replays from NHL EDGE tracking, with the entry, passes and shot speed for each goal.

Jason Zucker (BUF) 1st 2:00 · assists Jack Quinn, Conor Timmins · Deflection · 23.9 mph shot.

Jason Zucker · 1st 2:00 · BUF

Play: deflection
Passes: 3 (royal road)
Shot: 23.9 mph
Distance: 10 ft

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Cole Caufield · 1st 6:31 · MTL

Play: rebound
Entry: dump
Odd man: No
Passes: 2 (royal road)
Shot: 21.8 mph
Distance: 1 ft
Entry to goal: 8.5 s
Type: rebound

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Josh Doan · 1st 7:45 · BUF

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 2 (royal road)
Shot: 63.6 mph
Distance: 43 ft
Type: one-timer

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Alexandre Texier · 1st 7:54 · MTL

Play: deflection
Entry: dump
Odd man: No
Passes: 2 (royal road)
Shot: 32.7 mph
Distance: 8 ft
Entry to goal: 6.5 s
Type: one-timer

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Konsta Helenius · 1st 10:15 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 4-on-2
Passes: 2
Shot: 52.7 mph
Distance: 29 ft
Entry to goal: 3.6 s

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Josh Anderson · 2nd 8:01 · MTL

Play: rebound
Passes: 0
Shot: 27.7 mph
Distance: 7 ft
Type: one-timer, rebound

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Jake Evans · 2nd 16:15 · MTL

Play: rebound
Entry: carry
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 3
Shot: 8.6 mph
Distance: 2 ft
Entry to goal: 4.0 s
Type: rebound

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Nick Suzuki · 2nd 17:33 · MTL PP

Play: cycle
Passes: 3
Shot: 53.7 mph
Distance: 20 ft

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Ivan Demidov · 3rd 3:32 · MTL PP

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 1 (royal road)
Shot: 72.3 mph
Distance: 31 ft

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Methodology

Shot locations come from the NHL play-by-play, normalised so each shooter attacks the same way, then flipped so the home team attacks right. On-ice stats and lines come from the shift charts: a unit is the exact set of skaters sharing the ice, and CF% is the share of all shot attempts while they were out. Head-to-head cells are 5v5 time against each opponent. Expected goals and the Pressure Index appear as their models are released.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo SabresMay 14, 2026

Fantasy takeaways

Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo Sabres 6–3

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Head-to-head matchups

Matchup matrix

Sequence card

Lines used

Montreal Canadiens

Buffalo Sabres

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Montreal Canadiens

Buffalo Sabres

Goal anatomy

Jason Zucker · 1st 2:00 · BUF

Cole Caufield · 1st 6:31 · MTL

Josh Doan · 1st 7:45 · BUF

Alexandre Texier · 1st 7:54 · MTL

Konsta Helenius · 1st 10:15 · BUF

Josh Anderson · 2nd 8:01 · MTL

Jake Evans · 2nd 16:15 · MTL

Nick Suzuki · 2nd 17:33 · MTL PP

Ivan Demidov · 3rd 3:32 · MTL PP