The second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs ended in the most exciting way possible: Game 7 overtime. And it took Alex Newhook to play hero for the Canadiens for the second series in a row.

Newhook’s seventh goal of the postseason was a shot through the legs of Rasmus Dahlin that fooled Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to send Montreal on to the Eastern Conference Final. Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes once again turned in a performance for the ages, turning aside 37 Sabres shots in front of a tense crowd at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

The Habs got on the board first, with Phil Danault opening the scoring less than five minutes into the hockey game and Zachary Bolduc building Montreal’s lead late in the first. It would stay 2-0 Canadiens until midway through the second, when a Mattias Samulsson shot deflected off Jordan Greenway and past Jakub Dobes to cut the lead in half.

The third period featured some major scoring chances at both ends of the ice, but the Sabres were pressing the hardest with their season on the line. And they found it six and a half minutes in when Owen Power set up Rasmus Dahlin for the tying goal. The Sabres outshot the Habs 25-11 across the final 40 minutes of regulation, including a 10-4 run in the third. A small bit of controversy came about later in the third, when a Sabres shot squeezed through Dobes’ legs and into the blue paint, but the refs blew the play dead before Beck Malenstyn poked the puck into the net.

For the Sabres, this season was still nothing short of a success. After missing the playoffs every year since 2011, Buffalo just needed this postseason not to be a short one, and they succeeded by beating the Bruins in the opening round and pushing Montreal to Game 7.  This loss will undoubtedly sting for a while, but the Sabres and their fans can hold their heads high knowing they’ll be back here a lot sooner than their last playoff trip took.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens’ reward for winning one of the most exciting series of the postseason? An Eastern Conference Final matchup against a buzzsaw called the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes have been off since May 9, thanks to their second straight series sweep over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Habs and Canes will drop the puck at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh on May 21.

As the Canucks are poring over the fate of Adam Foote, one of their archrivals is getting closer to their own decision behind the bench.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have permitted the Edmonton Oilers to interview recently ousted head coach Craig Berube, according to a report by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in Monday morning’s episode of 32 Thoughts. Berube coached the Leafs in each of the last two seasons, getting them to Game 7 of the Eastern Semis in 2025 before missing the playoffs entirely last season. The Oilers post is vacant after the team let go of Kris Knoblauch, who led the Oilers to two straight Stanley Cup Finals before a disappointing first-round exit against the Ducks this week.

TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports that a formal interview for Berube is expected soon after early discussions with Oilers’ GM Stan Bowman. Another coach on the Oilers radar has been former Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy, who was let go just before the playoffs and replaced by John Tortorella. But the Knights are dragging their feet about allowing him to interview for the position (as well as an opening in Los Angeles with the Kings), as the team holds all the cards while they pay out the remainder of his contract.

The role of coaching the Oilers is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you inherit a roster with two of the greatest players in the world, but also a club with very little scoring depth behind them and an absolute mess of a goaltending situation. The pressure on you to succeed and lead Edmonton to a Stanley Cup before Connor McDavid’s contract expires two seasons from now carries the weight of a skyscraper on your back.

That pressure isn’t new to Berube, who coached the St. Louis Blues to their only championship in 60 years, and spent the last two years in centre of the hockey universe. That makes him a very attractive candidate to the Oilers, but he’d certainly have his work cut out for him in Alberta’s capital.