NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 17, 2026
The Sabres crush the Canadiens to force Game 7 in their second-round series, examining Mitch Marner’s strong postseason with the Golden Knights, several Avalanche players are nursing injuries, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Buffalo Sabres overcame an early 3-1 deficit with five unanswered goals to thump the Montreal Canadiens 8-3 in Game 6 of their second-round series, forcing a seventh and deciding game in Buffalo on Monday, May 18.
Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin (NHL Images)
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin led the way with a goal and four assists, becoming the first defenseman in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to record five points in a game when facing elimination. Tage Thompson had a goal and three assists, and Jack Quinn tallied twice and collected an assist. Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 18 shots after replacing Alex Lyon, who was pulled after giving up three goals on four shots early in the first period.
Jake Evans had a goal and an assist, Ivan Demidov scored for the second straight game, and Arber Xhekaj netted his first-ever playoff goal for the Canadiens. Jacob Fowler replaced starter Jakub Dobes in the third period after the latter gave up six goals on 33 shots.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Facing elimination for the first time in this postseason, the Sabres responded with their best performance of this series, one that may have changed the direction of this series in their favor.
The turning point in the game occurred at 11:47 of the first period when Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson received a double-minor for high-sticking Sabres forward Josh Norris, leading to Jason Zucker’s power-play goal that narrowed the score to 3-2. Led by Dahlin and Thompson, the Sabres dominated the next two periods.
This was the Canadiens’ worst performance of this postseason, something team captain Nick Suzuki admitted after the game. Even when leading 3-1, they were struggling to adjust to the changes that Sabres’ head coach Lindy Ruff made to his forward lines. He shifted Thompson to right wing alongside Norris and Zach Benson on the first line, with Ryan McLeod centering Alex Tuch and Josh Doan on the second line. Rookie Konsta Helenius centered Zucker and Quinn on the third line, with Peyton Krebs between Jordan Greenway and Beck Malenstyn on the fourth line.
Ruff’s quick replacement of Lyon with Luukkonen in the first period also paid dividends, providing some much-needed stability between the pipes that helped to settle down his teammates.
It will be interesting to see what Game 7 brings us. Both teams have played well on the road, but struggled at home. That could work in the Canadiens’ favor, but the momentum the Sabres gained in Game 6 could propel them into the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Regardless of the outcome of Game 7, the Eastern Conference Final will begin on Thursday, May 21, in Carolina.
SPORTSNET: Michael Amato looked at what’s behind Mitch Marner’s dominant playoff performance with the Vegas Golden Knights after years of criticism about his postseason play with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Of the factors listed by Amato, getting away from that harsh spotlight in Toronto and the structure of Vegas’ roster are probably the main reasons why Marner’s an early candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy. The Golden Knights play a solid two-way game with several forwards who play well defensively, so he’s not having to carry that burden as much as he did with the Leafs.
Some observers wondered how well Marner would perform after John Tortorella took over as head coach late in the season. Rather than struggling under the demanding Tortorella, Marner is thriving, earning his coach’s respect and support.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: The Avalanche has several players considered day-to-day as they nurse various injuries. They include Cale Makar, Brent Burns, Josh Manson, Artturi Lehkonen, and Sam Malinski.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The first game of their Western Conference Final series with the Golden Knights begins on Wednesday, so those players have several days to recuperate. Don’t be surprised if they’re all ready to go for Game 1.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The Hurricanes aren’t concerned about their long layoff between series adversely affecting their performance against the Canadiens or Sabres in the Eastern Conference Final. They will have had 12 days to rest, recuperate, and prepare for their next opponent.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Hurricanes will be a little rusty in the first game and perhaps the second, which could work to their opponent’s favor. However, the Canadiens and Sabres won’t have much time to recover from two long, physical series. That could work to the Hurricanes’ advantage as the Conference Final progresses.
DAILY FACEOFF: Anaheim Ducks forward Mikael Granlund is joining Finland’s roster in the 2026 IIHF World Championship.
The look says it all where the fan base is concerned –
https://ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/montreal-canadiens/hidden-game-home-fans-bummed-after-canadiens-blow-3-1-lead-in-8-3-loss-to-sabres?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-ca
But don’t write the Habs off just yet. Teams have shaken off similar losses to regroup quite a few times in the playoffs.
In 2017 the Ducks were crushed 7-1 by the Oilers in a game 6, but went on to win the 7th game 2-1! And in the 1997 Western Conference finals, after Detroit fell 6-0 to Colorado in game 5 they rebounded 3-1 in game 6, while in 1994, in Round 1, the Sharks were humiliated 7-1 by Detroit in game 6, then re-grouped to take game 7 by a score of 3-2.
Similar comebacks go back even further in NHL history. Perhaps these sort of turnarounds pray less upon team mindset than, say, losing a game 6 in which you mostly control the play but drop the game due to a late tie-breaking goal even after having several chances to put the game away. 48 hours thinking about that can be harder to overcome.
Leaf fans have plenty of experience with playoff failures, George, with the series last year against Florida topping the list but, when fans and commentators harp on the Game 5 and 7 losses at home, they kind of forget the Leafs, facing elimination, won Game 6 in Florida.
Time will tell with the Sabres and Habs but anything could happen and here’s hoping it’s the best game of the series.
Yep. They were also shut out at home 4-0 by Ottawa in game 5 of that series, before taking it back in Ottaea 4-2 in game 6.
Yeah, the Habs, inexplicably, soiled the bed last night. I say inexplicably because that is two games in a row where they came out flat and coughed up the lead very early.
But … how many times must we see momentum in one game evaporate in another before we dispense with the notion that a bad loss = the same result in the next game. The Sabres got spanked in Buffalo, and got over it.
Now, if someone can stick an extra dose of smelling salts up Slavkovski’s nose that would help. At the beginning of the year he said he wanted to play with the intensity of Brady. Not seeing it …
Sort of like the look of one fan when they picked Kotkenyami over Tkachuk
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLOEylJgMkG/
LOL!
Bad pick for sure if you look at it in isolation. But if the Habs had picked Brady, who would they have not gotten in subsequent drafts via the effect of the points improvement Brady would have gotten them? Maybe it ultimately was better? The Habs did get Engstrom via the pick that came from Carolina.
And, George this is not a jab at Brady, whom the Habs could surely use now, but the Sens clearly got the better pick and look at the two teams now. A bit of chaos theory mixed with Sh*& happens.
Not to mention better management moves and coaching.
George O whoever wins game 7 in the Montreal/ Buffalo series I Don t see them going any further with Carolina ,who has had the easiest playoff schedule in years waiting for them with almost 2 weeks to rest.Montreal going thru 2 seven game series has made their way into the top echelon of NHL superiority.
Sr, the Ottawa Senators had an unusually long 8-day wait before starting the 2007 Stanley Cup finals against Anaheim, winning each of the previous 3 series by 4-1 counts against Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Buffalo in that order.
But they were horribly “flat” when the series began against Anaheim and just could not get their “legs” back in losing 3 of the games 3-2, 1-0 and 3-2.
The Hurricanes will have been off 12 days before the Conference finals begin. We’ll see if their “preparation” will have them any more ready to meet a team that’s been playing continuously at peak levels.
So Lindy replaced Lyon with Pekka-Lukkonen after 3 goals on 4 shots…Sabres go on a tear and Lindy is hailed as a good coach who saw what needed to be done and made the change. If the Stars had responded the same way last year, DeBoer would still have his job. Obviously things didn’t go that way…..just saying
I don’t think Rod will let them rest on their collective laurels! 💪👍
Regardless of how hard a team may practice, in the mindset it doesn’t even approach that of head-to-head competition against a primarily young team – either Montreal or Buffalo – in the prime of their lives and playing at the peak of their ability.
And being essentially young teams, the couple of days off before starting the Conference finals will be more than enough to shake off any “tiredness” and getting back into action in the same time-frame to which they’re accustomed.
Well Starsfan, Lindy’s line changes sure worked out.
Did Lindy get the pull him call from his goaltending coach too?
Looks like fatigue is setting in and I wonder why both teams are playing better in the others barn? That Montreal atmosphere is great and maybe it’s pumping up the Sabers players more? I know, it would for me…I loved beating teams in their barns.
The Sabres -Habs series sure has had momentum swings for both teams. I thought this would be a 7 game series.Let’s hope whoever wins has enough gas in the tank to beat the Canes.
Timmins ,McLeod, Tuch, Power, and Norris didn’t put the puck in the net but all had big games last night. Tuch missed on a lot of great chances.Thompson and Dahlin finally played like the leaders they are and played there game instead of getting sucked into dumb plays.
Of note none of the Sabres trade deadline acquisitions played last night.