There is no sport on Earth that delivers a gut punch like a Game 7 in OT, and Buffalo just absorbed one square in the chest. Newhook ended it, the Habs are moving on, and the Sabres are left staring at the ceiling wondering how it slipped away again. If you were watching live, you already know — this was one of those nights.
The setup needed no words: NHL playoffs, Game 7, overtime.
For most of the night this looked like Buffalo's night. The crowd was deafening, the building was rocking, and the Sabres were dictating play. Then Newhook happened. The guy has now built a real Game 7 resume, and the Barstool main account didn't waste any time tagging him with the nickname.
Newhook officially gets the Mr. Game 7 stamp.
Alex Newhook is officially Mr. Game 7 https://t.co/zipNz7iA2t
The Buffalo half of this is brutal in a way only Buffalo fans truly understand. Bills, Sabres, it doesn't matter — the sports gods seem to have a personal vendetta against this city. Even Portnoy chimed in with the obvious.
The blunt summary of Buffalo's sports existence.
City of Buffalo just can’t catch a break.
Credit where it's due though: the Sabres faithful stuck around and chanted for their team after the dagger. That's the kind of thing you don't forget, and Ryan Whitney — who has been pounding the table on Montreal as a team of destiny for weeks — took a second to acknowledge it before doing a victory lap on his own prediction.
Whitney tips his cap to Buffalo while leaning all the way into the destiny narrative.
So Montreal punches through, Carolina is waiting in the next round, and Buffalo gets another summer of what-ifs. Whitney can say I told you so all he wants — at this point, he's earned it. The Habs aren't just winning, they're winning the ones that have no business going their way. That's the definition of a team of destiny, and the rest of the league should probably start paying attention.