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After a neck-and-neck battle between the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens during the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the conference final lineup is officially set.
With the Sabres and the Canadiens entering the match tied 3-3 out of six games played, the two teams found themselves tied 2-2 for the entirety of the third period, prompting them to advance into overtime play.
Whichever team scored just one more point would go on to the Eastern Conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes and be another step closer to a potential Stanley Cup victory.
It all came down to center Alex Newhook, who was assisted by defenseman Alexandre Carrier, to score the winning point for Montreal, securing both the Canadiens' spot in the lineup for Round 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 3-2 overtime victory against Buffalo .
The Western Conference, however, has had its match locked in since last Thursday, when the Vegas Golden Knights smashed the Anaheim Ducks out of the competition in a 5-1 game.
Their victory was the fourth out of the seven set games, awarding Vegas its spot in Round 3 of the competition. The Knights snagged that spot just behind the Colorado Avalanche, which wiped out the Minnesota Wild last Wednesday.
Everything was looking up for Colorado after the first two games against Minnesota in the second round. Yet, there was likely some disappointment from Avalanche fans as their team fell short of matching their postseason winning streak record in Game 3.
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While the Avalanche fumbled during a 5-1 loss in Game 3, it came back stronger in Game 4, where it secured its third win over Minnesota in a redeeming 5-2 victory.
All eyes were on Minnesota as it needed to beat Colorado in three back-to-back games if it wanted to advance to the conference final, and that was looking like a possibility as the two teams went into overtime after tying 3-3 during Game 5.
Unfortunately for the Wild, that possibly was shot into space at the hands of Colorado’s defenseman Brett Kulak, who secured the winning point for his team. This not only ended the Wild’s series but punched the Avalanche’s ticket to Round 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
On the western side of the ice, hockey fans can choose to root for either Colorado or Las Vegas, and on the eastern side, they can choose between Carolina or Montreal.
The victor of each conference will, of course, advance to the Stanley Cup final and fight for the trophy.
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