Canadiens vs. Sabres: What to know for NHL's best 2nd-round matchup

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Three teams entered the NHL playoffs with a chance to win Canada's first Stanley Cup since 1993. But only one remains. So, from the failing hands of Edmonton and Ottawa, we now throw the torch to Montreal as the Canadiens prepare to open their second-round series against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. 

Here are a few things to know about this exciting matchup and how these two teams got here.

Despite the fact each team had 106 points in the regular season, Tampa Bay was a huge favourite in the first round against Montreal. With three-time NHL scoring champion Nikita Kucherov leading a star-studded cast of forwards and former Vezina and Conn Smythe trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, the Lightning featured a battle-hardened core that won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and '21 and reached the final in '22. The Canadiens missed the playoffs from 2022 to 2024, and their key players' post-season experience amounted to a five-game defeat to Washington last year.

And yet, coach Martin St. Louis's boys went toe-to-toe with Tampa and then some, beating them in a seven-game series where every game was decided by one goal and four went to OT. Montreal stole Game 7 in Tampa on Sunday 2-1 despite being outshot 29-9, with young Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes once again outduelling the far more accomplished Vasilevskiy.

After an NHL-record 14 seasons without qualifying for the post-season, the surprising Sabres posted the best record in the league from mid-December on to win the Atlantic Division with 109 points (fourth overall) and make their long-awaited return to