Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres Game 2 Preview, Picks & Odds for Friday, May 8, 2026
The Buffalo Sabres look to extend their series lead over the Montreal Canadiens with a Game 2 home stand on Friday night. Let’s go through the betting odds, data, trends and insights for Friday’s Eastern Conference playoff game from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.
Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres Betting Analysis
The stand out stat for the Habs this season, especially in the playoffs, is that they win as underdogs. Montreal has won an insane 10 straight games when playing as an underdog and coming off a road loss. They have also covered the puck line in 31 of 32 games as an underdog, although it was Game 1 against Buffalo that ended the Habs crazy 31-game puck line streak as an underdog. More underdog trends – while Buffalo has won three of four meetings, the Sabres were underdogs in two of those three games.
So do we fade Montreal? Well, let’s move markets first with gut-instict (and Game 1) indicating a Montreal fade might not be a bad idea. The Over seems likely, hitting in Game 1 while Buffalo has also seen the Over cash in eight straight home games on a Friday night. The Habs have hit the Over 1.5 1P goal total in four straight games when facing a team on a winning streak as the underdog, while Montreal has seen six or more total goals in seven of eight games.
Moving to player props, Cole Caufeild is never a bad look and came close to scoring the first goal for Montreal in Game 1. Caufield has scored in four of five games inside KeyBank Center, while Buffalo’s Alex Tuch has found the back of the net in a quietly impressive eight of 12 games.
Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres Best Bet, Pick & Prediction
Best Bet: MTL/BUF O1.5 1P (-110)
Score Prediction: Sabres 4, Canadiens 3
Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres Game Odds
Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres Game Information
- Date: Friday, May 8, 2026
- Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
- Network: TNT
- Location: Buffalo, New York
- Venue: KeyBank Center – 6.4 goals per game; 21-21-3 O/U
- Series Score: Sabres 1-0
Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres Betting Resources
- NHL Playoff Odds
- NHL Game Odds
- NHL Daily Betting Trends
- NHL Starting Goalies
- Stanley Cup Picks
- Conn Smythe Picks
Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres Key Players
Montreal Canadiens
- Juraj Slafkovksy – Last Game: (0 Goals, 1 Assists)
- Nick Suzuki – Last Game: (1 Goals, 0 Assists)
- Jakub Dobes – Last Game: (4 Goals Against, 12 Saves)
Buffalo Sabres
- Ryan McLeod – Last Game: (1 Goals, 1 Assists)
- Josh Doan – Last Game: (1 Goals, 1 Assists)
- Alex Lyon – Last Game: (2 Goals Against, 26 Saves)
Photo Credit: AP/Jeffrey T. Barnes
