Sabres lament heartwrenching Game 7 OT loss to Canadiens

The Buffalo Sabres season has come to an end in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was a 3-2 overtime loss against the Montreal Canadiens that heartbreakingly ended the Sabres’ season.

After the game, many of the players spoke out about the pain of losing Game 7, per Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com.

“It’s tough, it stings,” Buffalo forward Tage Thompson said. “I thought we played hard all year to get to this point. I don’t think anyone in this room felt like we were done yet. Just disappointed. It sucks.”

Thompson could not find much success in Game 7. While he had five shots on goal, he did not register a point and ended the night with a minus-1 plus/minus rating. The Sabres were down 2-0 after the first period, but Jordan Greenway made it a one-goal game in the second period. Then, Rasmus Dahlin tied the game in the third period.

“(Freaking) sucks,” Dahlin said.

It overtime, Alex Newhook beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to end the game.

“It sucks,” Luukkonen said. “It’s nothing else. It sucks.”

It was still an amazing season for the Sabres. The team was in last place in the Eastern Conference on December 8, but rallied to win the Atlantic Division. It was the first time since 2011 that the team was in the playoffs, and then, for the first time since 2007, the Sabres won a playoff series.

“When you look around the room after a loss like that, you feel pain,” Thompson said. “You just see all the guys, and all the sacrifices and the hard work they put into the season, and not for themselves, but for the guy sitting next to them.”

Now, the Sabres look forward to next season, but have some decisions to make before then. Zach Benson is a restricted free agent, while Alex Tuch is an unrestricted free agent.