The Buffalo Sabres will play the Montreal Canadiens in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs beginning Wednesday, May 6 at KeyBank Center.
Montreal advanced to the second round with a win in Game 7 of its first-round series against Tampa Bay on Sunday.
The Sabres will have home-ice advantage in the series as Atlantic Division champions. The Canadiens finished third in the division with 106 points.
Buffalo went 2-2-0 in four games against Montreal this season, three of which came during a three-week span in January. Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki led the season series with eight points (2+6) while forward Cole Caufield had a series-leading five goals.
Tage Thompson led Sabres players with three goals and seven points in the four games against Montreal.
Juraj Slafkovsky – on the heels of his first 30-goal campaign during the regular season – leads Montreal with three goals in these playoffs. Jakub Dobes started all seven first-round games against the Lightning.
This will be the eighth all-time playoff series between the Sabres and Canadiens, with Montreal holding a 4-3 edge in series wins.
The Sabres’ first-ever playoff series was against the Canadiens in 1973, a six-game loss that famously ended with the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium crowd chanting “Thank you, Sabres.” The Sabres defeated the Canadiens two years later to advance to the 1975 Stanley Cup Final.
Buffalo also won the most recent series between the two teams, a four-game sweep in the 1998 conference semifinals.
The full Round 2 schedule is as follows:
- Game 1 – Wednesday, May 6 at 7 p.m. | KeyBank Center (TNT, truTV, HBO MAX)
- Game 2 – Friday, May 8 at 7 p.m. | KeyBank Center (TNT, truTV, HBO MAX)
- Game 3 – Sunday, May 10 at 7 p.m. | Bell Centre (ESPN)
- Game 4 – Tuesday, May 12, time TBD | Bell Centre (ESPN)
- Game 5 – Thursday, May 14, time TBD | KeyBank Center (TNT, truTV, HBO MAX)
- Game 6 – Saturday, May 16, time TBD | Bell Centre (ABC or ESPN)
- Game 7 – Monday, May 18, time TBD | KeyBank Center (ESPN)
Games 5-7 if necessary