Montreal Canadiens vs Buffalo Sabres Prediction, Preview and Odds - 05/06/2026

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET, Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Venue:  KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY

Where to Watch:  TNT, HBO Max, truTV

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Canadiens +110, Sabres -130; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Canadiens +110, Sabres -130; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Canadiens +110, Sabres -130; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

Montreal Canadiens:  48-24-10 (3rd place, Atlantic Division)

Buffalo Sabres:  50-23-9 (1st place, Atlantic Division)

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Montreal Canadiens:  5-3-2 last 10

Buffalo Sabres:  7-1-2 last 10

The Canadiens are entering the playoffs with 106 points, a 48-24-10 record overall, and they were 24-9-8 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in their last game, winning that one on the road 2-1. Alex Newhook and Nick Suzuki each scored 1 goal for them in that one. Kaiden Guhle led the team in assists with 2 while Nick Suzuki led the team in shots on net in that game with 3. Jakub Dobeš was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 1 goal on 29 shots with 28 saves and a .966 save percentage. Their offense has scored 283 goals this season averaging 3.5 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 256 goals against them allowing 3.1 goals per game.

The Sabres are entering the playoffs with 109 points, a 50-23-9 record overall, and they were 26-10-5 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a win against the Boston Bruins in their last game, winning that one on the road 4-1. Zach Benson, Alex Tuch, Josh Norris, and Mattias Samuelsson each scored 1 goal for them in that one. Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson each led the team in assists with 2 while Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, and Josh Doan each led the team in shots on net in that game with 5. Alex Lyon was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 1 goal on 26 shots with 25 saves and a .962 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 288 goals this season averaging 3.5 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 241 goals against them allowing 2.9 goals per game.

The current betting odds have the Sabres listed as a slight favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Sabres have looked great in their games this season with their 50-23-9 record overall which had them right at the top of their division in the East with one of the best records in the entire NHL. They have looked great on home ice too with their 26-10-5 home record this season. Meanwhile, the Canadiens have looked good in their games this season with their 48-24-10 record overall which had them in the top half of their division in the East. They have also been a great road team with their 24-9-8 road record this year. This is game 1 of a 7-game series between the 1st seeded Sabres and the 3rd seeded Canadiens from the Atlantic Division for the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs. The Canadiens are off a 4-3 series win over the Lightning and they looked great in that series, but they did need 7 games with some blown opportunities at home and they were also really fortunate to get through, winning 2-1 in game 7 while only taking 9 shots on net. They didn't generate a ton of offense when they needed it most and even though they will have some momentum from that series win, every game in that series was really close with many OT games included, so that was a very taxing series for the Canadiens and they are going to have some fatigue now. The Sabres are off a 4-2 series win over the Bruins in the last round and it is very evident that the Sabres got better as the series went on. They had some nerves to start the series with a lot of trouble on home ice in the first 2 games, but they settled in after that and crushed the Bruins in most of the games afterward. Now the Bruins have some momentum on their side with their first playoff series win in over a decade and they are also going to have more rest for this game too. Look for the Sabres to continue rolling in this one and take advantage of a Canadiens team that just went 7 long games in a really tough series. The best way to place a bet here is on the Sabres to win this game. 

Canadiens Sabres Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Wednesday, May 6, 2026 (7:00 pm ET start time) is Sabres 4 Canadiens 1.

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Montreal Canadiens: 122-135 (+9.6 units) on the moneyline in all games. 39-37 (+19 units) on the moneyline as a road underdog of +100 to +200. 29-32 (+16 units) on the moneyline when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 60% to 75%). 10-2 OVER in a road game where the total is 5.5.

Buffalo Sabres: 41-31 (-4.5 units) on the moneyline as a home favorite. 19-20 (-4 units) on the moneyline after allowing 1 goal or less in their previous game. 28-15 OVER at home when the money line is -100 to -150. 21-15 OVER against poor offensive teams - averaging 26.5 shots on goal per game or less.

Montreal Canadiens:  P. Laine (RW) Out - Abdomen.

Buffalo Sabres:  N. Ostlund (C) Out - Lower Body. S. Carrick (C) Out - Arm. J. Kulich (C) Out For Season - Ear. J. Danforth (RW) Out For Season - Kneecap.

“Tonight, what did we have, nine shots, 10 shots? I felt like tonight they deserved better. I felt like Game 6 we probably deserved better and Dobes kind of stole the game. Similar to the way (Andrei Vasilevskiy) stole the game in Game 6 in my mind. You need a little bit of everything and that's what we got this series." - Martin St Louis after his team’s win against the Lightning in game 7 of that series on Sunday. 

“It’s a group that hasn’t been here. I told them, ‘We’re going to win the game.’ I said, ‘We’re going to win the series. We’ve got to do some things better, but we’re going to win the game.’ - Lindy Ruff after his team’s win against the Bruins in game 6 of that series on Friday.

LW Cole Caufield

C Nick Suzuki

RW Juraj Slafkovský

LD Mike Matheson

RD Alexandre Carrier

G Jakub Dobes

LW Peyton Krebs

C Tage Thompson

RW Alex Tuch

LD Rasmus Dahlin

RD Mattias Samuelsson

G Alex Lyon

Points: Nick Suzuki (101)

Goals: Cole Caufield (51)

Assists: Nick Suzuki (72)

GAA: Jacob Fowler (2.43)

Points: Tage Thompson (81)

Goals: Tage Thompson (40)

Assists: Rasmus Dahlin (55)

GAA: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (2.52)

Coaches:

Montreal Canadiens: Martin St. Louis (5th season)

Buffalo Sabres: Lindy Ruff (2nd season)