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The Montreal Canadiens are moving on to the second round of the NHL playoffs after stealing Game 7 on the road.
Alex Newhook scored the go-ahead goal at 11:07 in the third period and Jakub Dobes made 28 saves as the Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1, prevailing 4-3 in the hard-fought first-round series on Sunday night.
The Canadiens, who only registered nine shots, set a Stanley Cup playoffs record for fewest shots on goal in a win.
Montreal will face Buffalo in the next round after the Sabres eliminated the Boston Bruins in six games. What’s bound to be an exciting matchup between two up-and-coming teams begins Wednesday in Buffalo.
The Canadiens failed to register a shot on goal in a playoff period for the first time in franchise history Sunday, outshot 12-0 in the second despite going on the power play twice.
The win nevertheless capped an epic series against the Lightning, a compelling matchup between a young Montreal group launching its competitive window and an experienced Lightning aiming to add to its legacy.
The Montreal Canadiens hosted a watch party at the Bell Centre for Game 7 of the team’s first-round series versus the Tampa Bay Lightning. See how the crowd reacted after captain Nick Suzuki opened the scoring.
The series featured seven one-goal games and four overtimes after both teams finished with 106 points in the regular season. The Canadiens could have won the series in Game 6 on Friday, but the Lightning staved off elimination with a thrilling 1-0 overtime win at the Bell Centre.
Montreal is the only Canadian team still standing after the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers bowed out in the first round.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, exits in the opening round for the fourth straight year after making three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup final, including championships in 2020 and 2021.
Winning a playoff round — especially against the Lightning — marks another step in a remarkable rise for the Canadiens, who sat fifth-last in the NHL standings just two seasons ago.
The franchise embarked on the first full-scale rebuild in its storied history after a disastrous start to the 2021-22 season, on the heels of a Cup final loss to Tampa Bay.
Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield remained foundational pieces through a regime change that saw Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes take over the front office. Behind the bench, the Canadiens turned to Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis despite his famously limited coaching experience.
Montreal finished last in 2021-22 and drafted Juraj Slafkovsky first overall that summer. A pair of 28th-place finishes followed — expected growing pains after a teardown — before the Canadiens snapped a three-year playoff drought last season, losing a five-game first-round series to Washington.
Now they stand among the NHL’s final eight after beating the Lightning — the very model of sustained contention the Canadiens set out to emulate when their rebuild began.
The Sabres are next. And it could be another closely contested affair.
The NHL’s best team after Jan. 1, Buffalo snapped a 14-year playoff drought and won the Atlantic Division title with 109 points this season.
A young core led by captain Rasmus Dahlin and forward Tage Thompson also helped lead the Sabres past the Bruins for the franchise’s first series win since 2007.
Ahead of Sunday’s playoff game, Habs fans tell CBC’s Kwabena Oduro why “Montreal is the best hockey city in the world.” They also make their predictions for the outcome of the decisive match that will determine which team gets to continue to round 2.
