{"id":243998,"date":"2026-05-18T16:31:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/18\/montreal-canadiens-vs-buffalo-sabres-game-7-preview-prediction-and-odds-2026-stanley-cup-playoffs\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:31:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:31:56","slug":"montreal-canadiens-vs-buffalo-sabres-game-7-preview-prediction-and-odds-2026-stanley-cup-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/18\/montreal-canadiens-vs-buffalo-sabres-game-7-preview-prediction-and-odds-2026-stanley-cup-playoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres Game 7: Preview, prediction and odds | 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5168726\" data-slug-id=\"2783559\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The decisive Game 7 between the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/montreal-canadiens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Montreal Canadiens<\/a> and the Buffalo Sabres is all set for Monday. The second-round series of the NHL playoffs is currently tied three games apiece and has been a treat for the neutrals and a nerve-wracking one for fans of both teams. Game 6 ended in an 8-3 win for the Sabres, who leveled the series emphatically.<\/p>\n<p>The puck drop at KeyBank Centre is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The game will be shown live on ESPN.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres head-to-head and key stats<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Canadiens are 3-2 against the Sabres in the last five games<\/li>\n<li>The Canadiens finished their regular season as No. 3 in goals scored in their division with 283. The Sabres finished their regular season as No. 2 with 288<\/li>\n<li>The Canadiens finished their regular season as No. 4 in goals allowed in their division with 256. The Sabres finished their regular season as No. 7 with 241<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres game preview<\/h2>\n<p>The Canadiens let another opportunity to move to the conference finals slip from their hands as they failed to capitalize on their lead yet again in Game 6 on Saturday night. Montreal, despite trailing 1-0 early in the game,  got back on level terms and led 3-1 at one point before capitulating and losing the game in an unbelievable fashion.<\/p>\n<p>As for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/buffalo-sabres\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Sabres<\/a>, it was as close a call as possible as they must have seen the exit door while trailing 3-1. However, Buffalo switched gears and scored seven unanswered goals in what can only be described as a comeback of unmatched proportions.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Canadiens predicted lineup against the Sabres (subject to change)<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Forwards:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cole Caufield &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/us\/nhl\/nick-suzuki\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Nick Suzuki<\/a> &#8212; Juraj Slafkovsky<\/p>\n<p>Josh Anderson &#8212; Jake Evans &#8212; Ivan Demidov<\/p>\n<p>Alexandre Texier &#8212; Kirby Dach &#8212; Zachary Bolduc<\/p>\n<p>Alex Newhook &#8212; Phillip Danault \u2013 Brendan Gallagher<\/p>\n<p><strong>Defensemen:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mike Matheson &#8212; Noah Dobson<\/p>\n<p>Kaiden Guhle &#8212; Jayden Struble<\/p>\n<p>Alex Carrier &#8212; Lane Hutson<\/p>\n<p><strong>Goaltenders:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jakub Dobes &#8212; Jacob Fowler<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Canadiens vs. Sabres odds and prediction<\/h2>\n<p>Montreal is a +102 underdog, while Buffalo is a -122 favorite. The puck line is set at +1.5 for the Canadiens at -250 and the Sabres at +205. The over\/under is 5.5 goals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Score Prediction: Montreal Canadiens 5, Buffalo Sabres 4<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres betting tips<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Over\/under:<\/strong> Take over 5.5 goals (+100)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Moneyline:<\/strong> Take Canadiens to win (+102)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Puck line:<\/strong> Take Canadiens to cover the +1.5 spread (-250)<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by R. 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Game 6 ended in an 8-3 win for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":243999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[72953,72954,12872,12873,72951,19883,72952,1896,72727],"class_list":{"0":"post-243998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip","8":"tag-buffalo-sabres","9":"tag-montreal-canadiens","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-nhl-google-trends","12":"tag-nhl-playoffs","13":"tag-nhl-trending-news","14":"tag-nick-suzuki","15":"tag-preview","16":"tag-stanley-cup-playoffs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}