Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo 3-2 in OT to advance to Eastern Conference final

Montreal reached the Eastern Conference final with a 3-2 overtime win over Buffalo in Game 7 on May 18, but the decisive detail differs from the version that circulated immediately after the game. NHL.com’s official recap and gamecenter list Alex Newhook — not Juraj Slafkovsky — as the player who scored at 11:22 of overtime at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The result sent the Canadiens through to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the next round. The game ended a seven-game second-round series in which Montreal recovered after dropping the first two games. Buffalo forced overtime with a two-goal comeback in regulation, according to the Sabres’ team recap, before Newhook finished the series in sudden death. The Eastern Conference final is scheduled to begin May 22 in Raleigh. ### Who actually scored the overtime winner? NHL.com said Alex Newhook scored the winning goal at 11:22 of overtime in Montreal’s 3-2 victory on Monday, May 18. The league’s official gamecenter for Canadiens-Sabres lists the same scorer and time. Juraj Slafkovsky was central to Montreal’s postseason run, but the official record for Game 7 credits Newhook with the goal that ended Buffalo’s season. That matters because the overtime winner is the play that formally decided the series and set the conference-final matchup. ### How did Montreal get through Game 7? Buffalo outshot Montreal 39-25, according to the NHL game summary, and still lost in overtime. That shot gap shows how much pressure the Sabres applied, especially after rallying from a two-goal deficit to tie the game late enough to force extra time. Sabres.com said Buffalo “engineered one last comeback to force overtime,” but its season ended when Newhook scored in the extra period. Montreal’s official site said the Canadiens had fallen behind 0-2 in the series before winning four of the next five games to advance. ### Where was the game played, and why did Buffalo host it? Game 7 was played at KeyBank Center in Buffalo because the Sabres had home ice in the second-round series. Buffalo entered the matchup as the higher-seeded team in the Atlantic-side bracket, while Montreal came in as the lower seed. The location added to the result because Montreal closed out the series on the road. NHL.com’s recap identified Buffalo as the site of the deciding game and confirmed the Canadiens advanced with the overtime win there. ### Who do the Canadiens face next? Carolina will play Montreal in the Eastern Conference final after the Hurricanes completed their own second-round series earlier. NHL.com’s conference-final lookahead said Carolina advanced with a 3-2 overtime win over Philadelphia in Game 4 on May 9. ESPN’s playoff coverage and Montreal’s team site both list the Canadiens-Hurricanes series as the next matchup in the East. Montreal’s site said the series begins Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina. ### When does the next series start? May 22 is the scheduled start date for Game 1 of Hurricanes-Canadiens. The NHL and team schedule pages place the opener in Raleigh, giving Carolina home ice to start the series. Carolina and Montreal are now one round from the Stanley Cup Final. The next concrete date is Thursday, May 22, when the Canadiens open the Eastern Conference final against the Hurricanes in Raleigh.