Montreal Canadiens vs Buffalo Sabres Prediction, Odds and NHL Playoffs Game 5 Picks for Today, 05/14/26

The Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens will collide in an absolutely critical Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Thursday night in Buffalo. Heading back south of the border, this best-of-7 set is all tied up 2-2 following Buffalo’s 3-2 victory in Game 4. I think the momentum will continue, so my Canadiens vs Sabres pick is the home team on the money line.

Having dropped Game 2 and Game 3 to fall behind 2-1, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff made a change in net from Alex Lyon to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on Tuesday. It proved to be the perfect touch, as Luukkonen stopped 20 of 30 shots. Buffalo as a whole delivered a much cleaner performance, providing UPL with much more help than it did for Lyon in the previous 2 outings. The effort was not exactly anything new for Luukkonen. Even though he struggled a bit in 2 starts against the Bruins in Round 1, the 27-year-old Finn compiled a 22-9-3 regular-season record with a 2.52 goals-against average and .910 save percentage as the Sabres compiled the second-most points in the East behind only Carolina. It’s also worth noting that Buffalo took care of business in Montreal on Tuesday despite putting just 20 shots on Dobes. If the Sabres can generate just a little bit more in the offensive zone, it should once again be enough help for Luukkonen.

Canadiens vs Sabres Game 5 prediction: Buffalo Sabres ML (-118) available at time of publishing. Playable to -125.

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