MONTREAL — Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 saves after starter Alex Lyon stopped only one of the four shots he faced, and the Buffalo Sabres roared back to beat the Montreal Canadiens 8-3 on Saturday night and force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The winner Monday night in Buffalo will face Carolina for the conference title and a chance to play for the Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes swept both of their series, last playing May 9.
The Sabres came back after trailing 3-1 midway through the first period.
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and four assists, Jack Quinn scored twice and added an assist and Tage Thompson had three assists and an empty-net goal. Zach Benson and Jack Quinn each had a goal and an assist and Konsta Helenius and Zach Metsa also scored.
Arber Xhekaj, Ivan Demidov and Jake Evans scored for Montreal, which won a Game 7 at Tampa Bay in the first round. Jakub Dobes stopped 27 of 33 shots, and Jacob Fowler made a save and allowed a goal in relief.
After Dahlin opened the scoring 32 seconds in, Montreal chased Lyon with the three-goal burst.
Xhekaj tied it at 1:40, Demidov scored on a power play at 8:12 and Evans made it 3-1 on a short-handed break with 9:46 left. Luukkonen then took over in goal, and Zucker got one back for Buffalo on a power play with 6:04 to go in the period.
Benson tied it a minute into the second, slipping in a short backhander from the left side. Quinn put Buffalo ahead on a power play with 9:06 left in the second, slapping a one-timer from the top of the right circle past Dobes. Helenius made it 5-3 with 7:01 remaining in the period, striking from short range.
Quinn added his second of the night on a power play midway through the third. Thompson scored into the empty net, and Metsa capped the scoring on a late power play.
Buffalo was 4 for 6 on the power play. Montreal was 1 for 3.
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