The Habs were able to jump out to a two-goal lead in the first period on Saturday night with a chance to clinch their series. However, Buffalo scored seven unanswered goals from there, forcing a Game Seven showdown on Monday with an 8-3 victory.
The Habs needed a bounce-back game in Buffalo on Friday night and they got it. Alex Newhook scored twice while a pair of blueliners scored as well, helping pace Montreal to a 5-1 win to tie the series at one game apiece.
There were plenty of offensive chances on Friday night but none crossed the goal line in regulation. In overtime, it was Gage Goncalves who slipped a shot past Jakub Dobes to give the Lightning the win and send the series to a seventh game.
Sunday’s series opener in Tampa Bay turned into a battle of special teams with multiple power play goals for each side. Juraj Slafkovsky had three of those tallies, the first coming early in overtime to give Montreal the 4-3 victory.
The Habs played their final home game of the regular season on Saturday as they hosted Columbus. The Blue Jackets had way more to play for than Montreal and it showed as the visitors came out strong and controlled the play from there to pick up a 5-2 win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Habs blew a 3-0 lead in New Jersey on Saturday night. However, they were able to win in the shootout, bringing them to 100 points on the season as they head into the second half of the home-and-home set on Sunday.
The Habs kicked off their third straight back-to-back set on Saturday as they hosted San Jose. However, they looked more like a team in the second half of it instead of the first, helping to allow San Jose to double them up by a score of 4-2.
The Habs got off to a terrible start in Los Angeles, being outshot 16-1 at one point. However, even after they had blown a lead to trail in the third, the top line was able to restore that with two tallies in less than a minute to give Montreal the 4-3 victory.
After losing multiple leads against the Islanders on Thursday, the Habs bounced back nicely against Washington. Cole Caufield had a pair of goals while Jakub Dobes turned aside 27 shots as Montreal picked up the 6-2 win.
After falling twice to the Sabres this month, the Habs got some revenge to end January. Cole Caufield scored twice in the third period to give Montreal the lead and they held on from there for the 4-2 win.