Canadiens believe in ‘deep run’ as series win marks another step in model rebuild

TAMPA — The Montreal Canadiens believe they’re only getting started.

The youngest team in the playoffs made a statement by eliminating the far more experienced Tampa Bay Lightning in an epic seven-game series.

And as they prepare to face the Buffalo Sabres in the second round beginning Wednesday, the Canadiens aren’t just happy to be here.

“There’s no reason why we can’t make a deep run,” defenceman Kaiden Guhle said. “We have all the pieces.”

“We have guys that can score, we have guys who can kill penalties, block shots, play hard,” he added after the Canadiens held on for a 2-1 win in Game 7 on Sunday. “We have all of the tools in here, and I’m not shocked at all that we’re in this position right now.”

Rebuilds across the NHL rarely bear fruit this quickly. The Canadiens have been on a fast track.

After losing in the 2021 Stanley Cup final, the franchise began a full-scale teardown in 2021-22, starting with a regime change that saw Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes form a new front office and Martin St. Louis take over behind the bench.

Montreal finished last in 2021-22 and drafted Juraj Slafkovsky first overall that summer, then placed fifth-last the following two seasons while continuing to stockpile prospects and draft picks.

With defenceman Lane Hutson on board last season, the Canadiens surprisingly snuck into the playoffs before losing a five-game first-round series to Washington. This season has marked another step forward with a 106-point regular season followed by a series win.

“We started this rebuild, and slowly but surely, we drafted some really good players and have an amazing coach,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “Been probably faster than most people expected, but when you get a lot of great players together with a great system and great leadership, things can turn quickly.”

Hutson credited the veteran leadership and a tight-knit dressing room as key drivers of the team’s success, something defenceman Noah Dobson felt the moment he walked through the door.

Attracted by the talent and upside of Montreal’s young core, Dobson signed an eight-year extension after being acquired from the New York Islanders last summer. He’s only been more sold since.

“It’s been impressive for a young team, I feel like their demeanour and composure is (rare),” said Dobson, who appeared to reinjure his hand in Game 7. “No matter how big of a moment, the guys handled it.”

NOT LEAVING!

Call him the Wolf of Ste-Catherine Street.

St. Louis went viral when broadcast cameras captured him inside the dressing room pounding his chest and re-enacting a scene from “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

“We’re not leaving!” St. Louis shouted, channelling Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort. “The show keeps going!”

A former Lightning great, St. Louis earned his first playoff series win as a coach in the same building where he won a Stanley Cup in 2004, and where his number hangs from the rafters.

“You can’t take the player out of me,” he said. “I don’t try to be in the locker room a lot. To me, this is their space. It’s their team, it’s not my team. I’m trying to steer them. But every now and then, I’ve had moments with them.

“A night like (Sunday), I wanted to be with them, and we had some fun.”

Suzuki highlighted an earlier speech from his coach, when St. Louis rallied the group after the Canadiens registered zero shots in the second period — a first in franchise playoff history.

“One of the best coaches in the whole world,” Suzuki said. “Says the right thing at every single situation and knows how to get the best out of his guys. No one was happy with that second period, and he comes in all fired up, getting us going for the third.

“He’s our leader, and everyone will do anything for him. He’s a hell of a coach and he’s only been doing this for a short period of time, so I can imagine he’s going to continue to get better. He just loves what he does, and we love playing for him.”

GOALIE FRATERNITY

Jakub Dobes got a proper thank-you from his teammates after making 28 saves Sunday: a face full of shaving cream.

The rookie goalie had just finished his post-game interview on TNT when fellow netminders Jacob Fowler and Sam Montembeault ambushed him.

“I love those guys, they’re awesome,” Dobes said. “But I can’t wait for the next practice, I will have something prepared.”

GAME WINNER

The biggest goal of the series goes to Alex Newhook. The 25-year-old from St. John’s, N.L., scored the winner with 8:53 remaining in the third period, capitalizing on a lucky bounce by swatting the puck out of mid-air and banking it off Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

“Probably No. 1,” Newhook said of where that goal ranks. “A big moment and we needed one as a group, so someone had to do it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press