The NHL quietly changed something huge in Game 6
Lindy Ruff is sticking with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for Game 7 Monday, and the NHL just quietly rewrote part of Alex Lyon's nightmare in Montreal.
The Sabres routed the Canadiens 8-3 at the Centre Bell on Saturday night to force a winner-take-all in Buffalo.
But the story before the eight goals was the goaltending.
Lyon got the start and lasted about ten minutes. He left having faced four shots and surrendered three goals. Luukkonen came in cold.
And then he stopped everything. 18 shots, 18 saves, the win on the road.
Here's where it gets interesting. The league originally ruled that an early Ivan Demidov chance had missed the net, leaving Lyon with three goals on three shots.
That number would have stamped his name into a piece of NHL history nobody wants. During the intermission, the call was changed.
How a scoring decision saved Lyon's record book
Demidov's first attempt was credited as a shot on goal. Lyon was given the save. His final line moved to three goals on four shots, with Luukkonen finishing the rest.
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A glove flick that started the night barely registered turned into the only thing separating Lyon from an unwanted footnote. Small detail. Massive perception shift.
It still doesn't fix what Ruff watched live. The veteran was hooked before the period even hit double digits, and the bench reset around Luukkonen for the rest of the night.
Demidov, for what it's worth, finished with a power play goal and five shots on goal. He's been Montreal's most dangerous forward in this series, with seven points in 13 playoff games.
Rasmus Dahlin then took over. Five points, a goal, four assists, including three on the power play. That's the gear Buffalo needs from its number one defenceman in a Game 7.
Putting Luukkonen back in net for Monday isn't really a decision. It's the only call. He's 20-9 on the season with a .908 save percentage, and he just spotted Buffalo a comeback win on enemy ice.
Does Martin St-Louis change anything in his crease after watching Jakub Dobes give up six goals on 33 shots? That's the quieter question heading into Monday.
The Canadiens were 24-15-2 at home in the regular season and built a 3-2 series lead before the wheels came off. Now they fly to Buffalo with a banged-up confidence level and a goalie carousel question.
The Sabres won 4-2 at home in Game 1 of this series. They'll get the same building, the same crowd, and a goalie who hasn't allowed a goal since the second period of Game 5.
Lyon's stat line got cleaner. His night in the series might be over anyway.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 16, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zach Metsa | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Arber Xhekaj | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||