MONTREAL (AP) 鈥� Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 18 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, last playing May 9.
鈥淚 think if you would have asked every guy in here in September if they would have taken being in Game 7 in Round 2, we all would have signed up for that,鈥� Buffalo forward Tage Thompson said. “So, we鈥檙e in a great spot. Now it鈥檚 just one game. That鈥檚 all that matters.鈥�
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and four assists for a team playoff-record five points.
Buffalo came back after trailing 3-1 midway through the first period.
鈥淲e believed in it from the beginning and (Luukkonen) came in and gave us a little boost,鈥� Dahlin said. 鈥淚t was a mix of everything, but I鈥檓 super happy with the character from today鈥檚 game.鈥�
Jack Quinn scored twice and added an assist, Thompson had three assists and an empty-net goal, and Zach Benson and Jack Quinn each had a goal and an assist. Konsta Helenius and Zach Metsa also scored.
Arber Xhekaj, Ivan Demidov and Jake Evans scored for Montreal, which won a Game 7 at Tampa Bay in the first round. Jakub Dobes stopped 27 of 33 shots, and Jacob Fowler made a save and allowed a goal in relief.
鈥淧retty shocked,鈥� Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e up 3-1 in the first period and we lose 8-3.”
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.
鈥淲e did have control of it,鈥� Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson said. 鈥淭hey made a push, they made some good plays, and we didn鈥檛 really fight back hard enough for whatever reason.
Quinn added his second of the night on a power play midway through the third. Thompson scored into the empty net, and Metsa capped the scoring on a late power play.
Buffalo was 4 for 6 on the power play. Montreal was 1 for 3.
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