Habs Head to Eastern Final After Game 7 Overtime Thriller
Alex Newhook's OT goal sends Montreal past Buffalo and into Conference Final matchup with Carolina.
The Montreal Canadiens pulled off the improbable Monday night in Buffalo. Down 2-0, they clawed back to force overtime and then, at 11:22 of the extra period, Alex Newhook buried the winner to send the young Habs to the Eastern Conference Final.
It's the second Game 7 comeback this playoff run for a team that wasn't supposed to be here at all. The Canadiens are the youngest roster in the playoffs, a rebuilding squad that's now one of the final four teams standing in the Stanley Cup race. Nobody predicted this. Nobody believed they could beat Tampa Bay last round, then somehow find a way past a gritty Sabres team that outshot and out-chanced them for most of the series.
But that's been the story of this run: resilience, goaltending, and refusing to accept conventional wisdom. Jakub Dobes has been the rock in net, and the team's ability to stay composed in high-pressure moments — especially in Game 7 situations — is what separates contenders from pretenders.
Game 1 of the Conference Final tips Thursday at 8 p.m. against Carolina. The Hurricanes are a mature, playoff-tested squad, but Montreal's come this far by believing in moments most teams fold in. This young core is rewriting the script.