Canadiens' Alex Newhook scores thrilling OT game-winner to defeat Sabres in Game 7

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For the second series in a row, the Montreal Canadiens are moving on in the NHL playoffs after a thrilling late goal in a Game 7.

After going up 2-0 in the first period over the Buffalo Sabres, the Canadiens conceded two goals to the Sabres. In the third period, Buffalo nearly took a lead, but the tap from Beck Malenstyn came a fraction of a second after the referee blew the whistle, making it no goal.

That call led to a tense sudden-death overtime, with both teams taking close shots in an attempt to take the series. Then, just under halfway through the overtime period, Canadiens forward Alex Newhook sent in a long shot that slipped past Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and sent Montreal to glory.

This is Newhook’s second time playing Game 7 hero for the Canadiens: The centre scored another late goal in the decisive game of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning two weeks ago, with his third-period shot giving Montreal the win.

It also cemented a strange trend in this series, as the Canadiens pick up the thrilling victory on the Sabres’ home ice. In the seven-game series, only two games ended with the home team getting the win. The rest of the matchups seemed to have no sense of home-ice advantage: Buffalo forced Game 7 by smacking the Habs at home in Game 6, scoring seven unanswered goals a 8-3 win.

Those topsy-turvy results quickly triggered the superstitions of the home team: The Sabres even went so far as to spend the night in a hotel on Sunday in order to simulate an away environment. Unfortunately for Buffalo, the unconventional decision didn’t end up paying off.

Montreal, though, will revel in surviving two seven-game series in a row, even after dropping the lead in both cases. The Habs are vying to become the first Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup since 1993; Montreal was the team to lift the trophy that year. As the only team from Canada still left in the postseason, it’s up to Montreal to break that overdue drought.

The Canadiens now move on to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals, with that series starting in Raleigh on Thursday. In the meantime, Montreal will be making some history: The young squad, with an average age of 25.8, becomes the youngest team to advance to the conference finals since that 1993 Stanley Cup-winning Habs teams, per NHL PR.

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