Surprise: Oliver Kapanen will play tonight

David Kirouac-Imagn Images

Surprise: Oliver Kapanen will play tonight

Originally posted on Dose.ca | Last updated May 18, 2026 8:36 PM ET

There was no official word on whether Martin St-Louis would make any changes to his lineup for the series-deciding game against the Buffalo Sabres.

There were doubts… and now it's confirmed.

For tonight's game,Brendan GallagherOliver Kapanen will return to the Montreal lineup. He'll take the place of Joe Veleno, who was available for the game… but who got knocked out in the last game against the Sabres. Note that Kapanen was centered between Bolduc and Dach during warm-ups:

Round 2, Game 7 Habs warmup lines and pairings:
Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky
Newhook-Evans-Demidov
Bolduc-Kapanen-Dach
Texier-Danault-Anderson
Matheson-Carrier
Hutson-Dobson
Xhekaj-Guhle
Dobes
Fowler

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) May 18, 2026

I still like the idea.

It's the most important game of the season; we absolutely need a win to stay alive… and we had to find a way to shake things up a bit.

Kapanen had a rough end to the season, but he's well-rested (his last game was on April 26) and it's not like he had a bad season overall. He still scored 22 goals in his first full NHL season…

TORONTO, CANADA – OCTOBER 08: Oliver Kapanen #91 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his first NHL goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first period at Scotiabank Arena on October 08, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Chris Tanouye/Getty Images) (Credit: Getty Images)

More details to come…

This article first appeared on Dose.ca and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: