The Buffalo Sabres were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens in their season-series finale 7-4, and thus were officially eliminted from playoff contention.
Buffalo entered the game looking to mathematically stay alive in the playoff race. With a regulation loss, the Sabres would have been eliminated from the playoffs, again.
About midway through the first period, Sam Reinhart scored his 19th goal of the season to give Buffalo the 1-0 lead. The play started with a nice zone entry from Brandon Montour and then finished with a nice passing play between Casey Mittelstadt and Reinhart.