Montreal was ready to pop before Game 6 in anticipation of a series win. However, the Sabres silenced the crowd, forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday night in Buffalo.

Buffalo 8, Montreal 3 (series tied 3-3)

Rasmus Dahlin opened the scoring just 32 seconds into the game, but then Montreal scored three times before the period was barely half over, chasing Alex Lyon from the game. The Sabres took over from there, scoring seven times while dominating the shots 36-22.

Dahlin led the way with four assists after his icebreaker goal. He is now just the ninth defenseman to score five points in a playoff game. Dahlin now has nine points over his last four games and has been impressive with 13 points in 12 games in his first season in the playoffs.

If you have any Sabres in your playoff pool, just wait, there's more. Tage Thompson finished with a goal, three assists, six shots, three hits, and a plus-3. Thompson has eight points over his last four games, but after being held without a point in Game 5, he was moved onto a line with Zach Benson and Josh Norris for Game 6. After the offensive explosion, expect that line to stick for Game 7.

Jack Quinn followed up his first career playoff goal in the second period with his second career playoff goal in the third period. Both were on the power play. Quinn now has points in back-to-back games after being held without a point in his previous six games. Before Saturday, Quinn had last scored a goal on April 9.

Benson, Jason Zucker, Konsta Helenius, and Zach Metsa scored the Sabres' other goals. Helenius now has goals in back-to-back games.

Lyon was pulled after allowing three goals on just four shots. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got the job done from there, stopping all 18 shots he faced. Expect Luukkonen to start Game 7, even though Lyon has had the bulk of the work in net during the playoffs.

Jake Evans, Ivan Demidov, and Arber Xhekaj scored the Canadiens' goals. After being held without a goal in his first 11 playoff games, Demidov now has goals in back-to-back games. He also has five points over his last four games. Evans, who is normally more of a checking line option, has been centering Demidov during much of the playoffs and has seven points over his last five games.

Is Jakub Dobes finally turning into a pumpkin? Dobes allowed six goals in Game 6 and was mercy pulled midway through the third period. Dobes has also allowed at least three goals in each of his last three starts. He could be wearing down, as he played every minute for the Canadiens up until the third period of Game 6. Jacob Fowler took over for Dobes, allowing a goal on two shots. Fowler appears to be the long-term starter for the Canadiens, although it's Dobes' net right now. Expect Dobes to start in Game 7. The good news for Habs fans is that he has shown he can bounce back.

Jakub Dobes following a loss in the playoffs:

5-0
.940 save percentage
6.4 goals saved above expected
— Michael Amato (@amato_mike) May 15, 2026

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It seems as though there's a bit of pushback on my idea yesterday that the Wild would have an easier time trading Jesper Wallstedt than Filip Gustavsson to upgrade at the center position. First off, it's just an idea, but a bold one at that. I'm not saying the Wild would pull the trigger on that deal, but I'm also saying that Bill Guerin didn't hold back in giving up a boatload of prospects to land Quinn Hughes. The Wild need to make bold moves if they are to get past Colorado in the Central Division.

Also, just a reminder of the starting goalies remaining in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs:

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Alex Lyon/Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

The highest salary of that group belongs to Luukkonen, who earns $4.75 million. He hasn't even started the majority of the playoff games for the Sabres, but I'm including him here because I think he'll start Game 7. After that, it's Andersen at $2.75 million.

In the modern NHL, having a top-tier goalie may not be as important as you think it is. Having a serviceable goalie might be enough, especially with a hard salary cap and dollars that can be used on top-tier scorers.

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Yesterday I listed three players I regretted drafting in single-season leagues. Here are three more. The first number is where I drafted the player, while the second number is their Yahoo ranking in the league for the season.

Jordan Kyrou (95, 198)

Kyrou should no longer be viewed as a rising star in fantasy hockey. Now 28 years old, Kyrou has seen a gradual decline for the most part from his career-best 75 points in 74 games from 2021-22 to just 46 points in 72 games this past season. The shift in St. Louis transitioning into a semi-rebuild and Kyrou's defensive issues under two different coaches (Craig Berube, Jim Montgomery) have resulted in his icetime decreasing, limiting his production.

In addition to his overall production declining, Kyrou's shooting has dropped (3.4 SOG/GP in 2022-23 to 2.4 SOG/GP in 2025-26), as has his power-play production (23 PPP in 2022-23 to 14 PPP in 2025-26). Kyrou's goal total was cut in half from 2024-25 (36 G) to 2025-26 (18 G), which can be attributed to both fewer shots (239 SOG to 173 SOG) and a lower shooting percentage (15.1% to 10.4%). As well, 2025-26 was the first season in his last four seasons that Kyrou received fewer than 50 percent of his team's power-play minutes (47.9%).

If things start to break Kyrou's way, again, it's possible that he returns to a 30-goal, 70-point pace again. However, Kyrou is not a player that I would expect will take another step in 2026-27, especially with the players around him on a St. Louis squad likely to be a bubble playoff team at best next season.

Drew Doughty (118, 423)

If you had to ask me which player I regretted drafting the most, I'd tell you Doughty. Maybe because I foolishly drafted him in two leagues thinking he still had a lot left in the tank and would still be a legitimate power-play threat. Or maybe because I eventually dropped him in both of those leagues. Regardless, if you held onto Doughty all season, he probably contributed negative value (or something related to that) to your team.

The signs of Doughty's flattened value were already there. Doughty's scoring rate had regressed slightly in the three seasons prior from 0.79 PTS/GP in 2021-22 to 0.64 PTS/GP to 0.61 PTS/GP to 0.57 PTS/GP in 2024-25, when he played in just 30 games. Doughty had always retained his role on the top power play, which along with his usual high icetime number was the reason I targeted him. However, even that PP1 role was lost to Brandt Clarke, while Doughty's scoring average fell to a career low 0.32 PTS/GP (23 PTS in 72 GP). Even with the power-play time he did receive, Doughty picked up a grand total of one power-play point.

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Doughty can still contribute somewhat with peripherals (101 SOG, 52 hits, 76 blocks), but those numbers don't stand out even in any one category. Doughty seems to be transitioning into a shutdown role, which is another way of saying that his real-life value is surpassing his fantasy value. At this point, Doughty should not be drafted in standard-sized fantasy leagues next season, given how much his scoring has fallen off and how unlikely a rebound is. I haven't even mentioned his controversial addition to Canada's Olympic roster, which isn't related to his fantasy value but hockey fans will no doubt have opinions about.

Auston Matthews (6, 109)

This was a hard one to decide whether to include. My scoring on this team was fine throughout the season and even in the final, but getting more mileage out of my first-round pick would have been nice. Especially when David Pastrnak, Quinn Hughes, Kirill Kaprizov, and Jack Eichel were all still available. It wasn't a slam dunk that my first-round pick would have been the right call, as Mikko Rantanen and Brady Tkachuk were both injured for significant portions of the season along with Matthews.

In addition to the season-ending MCL injury at the hands (or knee) of Radko Gudas, Matthews saw his scoring decline for the second consecutive season. I figured that losing Mitch Marner could impact Matthews' production, and that could have been a major factor in Matthews falling below a point-per-game pace (0.88 PTS/GP) for the first time since his rookie season of 2016-17. The good news is that his shot volume remained high at almost four shots per game, and some shooting percentage recovery might help his goal total get back on track. Over the past two seasons, Matthews has averaged 30 goals over 64 games, which falls just below a 40-goal pace over a full season. Not elite, but still very good.

However, questions about Matthews' long-term health are now real, as he has not reached 70 games in back-to-back seasons. Although he could be a later first-round pick next season in 12-team leagues, Matthews is more of a gamble that he has been in past seasons. Don't forget that where he will be playing next season isn't 100% certain either.

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Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social