Buffalo Sabres vs Montreal Canadiens
2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs · Second Round
Buffalo Sabres
Higher seed · Eastern Conference
1 – 1
Best of 7 · Game 3 next
Montreal Canadiens
Lower seed · Eastern Conference
Next game: Sunday, May 10
Series Prediction
Updated after Game 2 · methodologyBUF 55%45% MTL
Most likely outcome: BUF in 7 (22% of simulations)
Pre-series: BUF 59% · MTL 41% → Now: BUF 55% · MTL 45% (-4 for BUF)
How we calculated this
Elo rating1542 vs 1524 (+18)+0.7% BUF
Goaltending (season starter)GSAx/60: 0.81 vs 0.71+0.6% BUF
Power play (season)PP xGF/GP: 1.50 vs 1.39+0.9% BUF
Penalty kill (season)PK GA/GP: 0.60 vs 0.81 (lower better)+1.3% BUF
Home iceMTL hosts+4.0% MTL
Win probability is computed via Monte Carlo simulation (10,000 runs) over the remaining games, using per-game win probabilities that combine these factors with home-ice advantage.
Game-by-Game Results
Series Stats at 5-on-5
Goaltender Stats
About this Second Round Series
The Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens meet in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round. The Buffalo Sabres enter as the higher seed and host Games 1, 2, 5, and 7 (if necessary). First team to 4 wins advances.
Through 2 games, the series stands at BUF 1, MTL 1. All stats on this page aggregate across every game played in the series so far.