The Sabres forced the deciding game with an 8-3 win in Game 6 at Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday after trailing the best-of-7 series 3-2.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Buffalo forward Tage Thompson said of playing in what will be his first career Game 7. “It’s a new experience for a lot of guys in this room, and something you dream of growing up and we knew going into this series it was going to be a long one. They’re a good team, and I think it’s just something that gets you excited.
“It’s another game that we get to embrace. I think if you would have asked every guy in here in September if they would have taken being in Game 7 in round two, we all would have signed up for that. So we’re in a great spot. Like I said, now it’s just one game. That’s all that matters.”
The winner of the game will play the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final. Carolina swept the Philadelphia Flyers in their second-round series and is 8-0 in the playoffs.
Buffalo has played in seven Game 7s, with its lone win coming against the Ottawa Senators in overtime in the 1997 Conference Quarterfinals. Montreal is 16-9 in Game 7, including 8-6 on the road. It won its most recent Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference First Round this season. The Canadiens have won their past three road Game 7s and six of their past seven winner-take all games away from home.
Forwards Tanner Pearson (four), Ryan McLeod (three) and Alex Tuch (three) have played in the most Game 7s among Buffalo skaters. Pearson (two goals, one assist) and Tuch (one goal, one assist) are the only Sabres players with a goal in a Game 7.
Neither Sabres goalie, Alex Lyon or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, has played in a Game 7. Lindy Ruff has coached in five (1-4).
On what Buffalo needs to do to win Game 7, Thompson said: “Same thing we did tonight. Forget about what’s happened up to this point and just play a shift at a time, focus on your job, and what you need to do and doing it to the best you can. I thought that was the message going into tonight. We kept it simple, we didn’t mess around with the puck in areas where we’re going to give them any free offense, and guys competed and play hard. You do that, usually, you’re going to have success.
“And I think sometimes, when you get into situations where you need to win games or you feel like you need to be a little better, sometimes you think you’re trying harder by making more plays or trying to do more out there, and sometimes that’s not the right answer. Sometimes it’s just to simplify it. Most of the time it’s just to simplify it, and I thought our whole group did that tonight.”
Canadiens forwards Brendan Gallagher (3-0) and Phillip Danault (2-1) have each played in three Game 7s. Gallagher has one goal and two assists. Forwards Nick Suzuki and Alex Newhook each scored in Game 7 against the Lightning in the first round.
Montreal goalie Jakub Dobes made 28 saves in the 2-1 first-round win in Game 7, which was the first winner-take-all game Martin St. Louis had coached.
“We’re a team that is really resilient,” Suzuki said. “We’ve been in this situation already in the first round, so we have experience. We just have to win one game. That’s the focus right now.”
