Today’s NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games:
MTL vs. BUF – ANA vs. VGK
Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres
Game 1 – 7:00 PM ET
REFEREES |
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Pierre Lambert #25 |
Wes McCauley #4 |
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| Games ’25-26 (RS/PO) | 75 / 5 | 77 / 5 | ||||
| Career Games (RS/PO) | 582 / 13 | 1517 / 225 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 11/17/16 | 1/20/03 | ||||
| First Playoff Game | 4/21/24 | 4/12/07 | ||||
| Birthplace | St-Hubert, QC | Georgetown, ON | ||||
| Goals/Gm | 6.1 (21) | 5.8 (37) | 6.1 (22) | 6.2 (10) | ||||
| PP Opp/Gm | 5.5 (28) | 5.5 (15) | 5.4 (33) | 5.4 (16) | ||||
| PPG/Gm | 1.0 (34) | 1.3 (11) | 1.1 (32) | 1.2 (19) | ||||
| Penl/Gm | 7.0 (28) | 6.7 (23) | 7.1 (27) | 7.0 (16) | ||||
| PIM/Gm | 15.9 (33) | 6.7 (24) | 17.7 (26) | 16.7 (14) | ||||
| % of Penl on Home | 49.7% (17) | 50.0% (14) | 47.2% (19) | 50.0% (16) | ||||
| % PP Opp for Home | 51.1% (27) | 50.0% (32) | 51.1% (27) | 50.0% (24) | ||||
| Penl Diff.* | 1.0 (40) | 1.3 (15) | 1.4 (9) | 1.4 (10) | ||||
| Home Win % | 52% (30) | 67% (5) | 50% (37) | 68% (4) | ||||
| Home Rec. | 12-11-0 | 44-20-9 | 13-14-4 | 45-19-10 | ||||
| OT/SO Games | 20.3% (32) | 20.0% (14) | 32.9% (4) | 20.0% (29) | ||||
| Team Records | 25-26 | 24-25 | 23-24 | 25-26 | 24-25 | 23-24 |
| MTL | 1-4-1 | 3-1-1 | 3-5-0 | 3-0-1 | 2-1-1 | 2-0-1 |
| BUF | 3-3-0 | 2-4-0 | 1-2-0 | 2-2-1 | 4-1-0 | 3-2-0 |
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Scott Cherrey #50 |
Jesse Marquis #86 |
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| Games ’25-26 (RS/PO) | 42 / 5 | 76 / 4 | ||||
| Career Games (RS/PO) | 1275 / 176 | 476 / 23 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 10/6/07 | 10/11/18 | ||||
| First Playoff Game | 4/15/11 | 4/18/23 | ||||
| Birthplace | Drayton, ON | Bouctouche, NB | ||||
The Canadiens get ref Wes McCauley in back-to-back games, coming off his Game 7 assignment.
Referees Wes McCauley and Pierre Lambert are paired up for the first time this postseason.
McCauley was paired with Brandon Blandina for OTT/CAR Game 1, MIN/DAL Game 2, TBL/MTL Game 4 (MTL L 3-2), and EDM/ANA Game 6. He also worked with Chris Rooney at MTL/TBL Game 7 (MTL W 2-1).
Lambert skated with Gord Dwyer in the opening round, working ANA/EDM Game 1, MIN/DAL Game 3, UTA/VGK Game 3, PHI/PIT Game 6, and BOS/BUF Game 6 (BUF W 4-1).
Anaheim Ducks at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 2 – 9:30 PM ET
REFEREES |
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Kelly Sutherland #11 |
TJ Luxmore #21 |
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| Games ’25-26 (RS/PO) | 76 / 4 | 76 / 5 | ||||
| Career Games (RS/PO) | 1680 / 256 | 803 / 42 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 12/19/00 | 11/19/13 | ||||
| First Playoff Game | 4/9/03 | 8/2/20 | ||||
| Birthplace | Richmond, BC | Timmins, ON | ||||
| Goals/Gm | 6.0 (28) | 5.9 (28) | 6.0 (27) | 5.9 (26) | ||||
| PP Opp/Gm | 5.7 (21) | 5.4 (18) | 5.8 (16) | 4.8 (43) | ||||
| PPG/Gm | 1.2 (24) | 1.0 (40) | 1.3 (15) | 0.9 (43) | ||||
| Penl/Gm | 8.1 (3) | 6.8 (20) | 7.6 (14) | 6.2 (39) | ||||
| PIM/Gm | 21.1 (2) | 6.8 (21) | 19.1 (10) | 14.6 (38) | ||||
| % of Penl on Home | 49.7% (7) | 50.0% (9) | 50.7% (3) | 50.0% (19) | ||||
| % PP Opp for Home | 48.8% (36) | 50.0% (34) | 48.1% (37) | 50.0% (18) | ||||
| Penl Diff.* | 1.2 (29) | 1.2 (27) | 1.3 (22) | 1.4 (11) | ||||
| Home Win % | 64% (8) | 60% (27) | 56% (25) | 62% (23) | ||||
| Home Rec. | 44-24-7 | 42-27-5 | 34-27-9 | 42-26-6 | ||||
| OT/SO Games | 21.3% (30) | 10.0% (39) | 28.9% (9) | 20.0% (26) | ||||
| Team Records | 25-26 | 24-25 | 23-24 | 25-26 | 24-25 | 23-24 |
| ANA | 2-1-1 | 1-1-1 | 0-1-0 | 2-2-2 | 1-2-2 | 2-3-0 |
| VGK | 1-1-1 | 3-2-0 | 4-3-0 | 2-3-1 | 2-1-1 | 3-2-0 |
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Devin Berg #87 |
James Tobias #61 |
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| Games ’25-26 (RS/PO) | 76 / 5 | 78 / 5 | ||||
| Career Games (RS/PO) | 746 / 95 | 551 / 26 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 10/15/15 | 11/22/17 | ||||
| First Playoff Game | 4/11/18 | 4/17/23 | ||||
| Birthplace | Kitchener, ON | Buffalo, NY | ||||
Refs Kelly Sutherland and TJ Luxmore were paired up starting in Round 2; they officiated PHI/CAR Game 1.
Sutherland previously worked with Corey Syvret in Round 1, handling UTA/VGK Game 2 (VGK L 3-2), LAK/COL Game 3, and BOS/BUF Game 5.
Luxmore skated alongside Trevor Hanson at UTA/VGK Game 1 (VGK W 4-2), LAK/COL Game 2, BOS/BUF Game 4, and MIN/DAL Game 5.
The NHL officials selected to work the opening round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Games: PS (Preseason); RS (Regular Season); PO (Playoffs)
Stats/Numbers: ’25-26 avg. (’25-26 rank) | ’24-25 avg. (’24-25 rank)
Number in orange/parentheses indicated referee’s rank among active officials.
* Penalty Differential represents the absolute value of the variance of penalty calls by team per game. If Team A takes two more penalties (or two fewer) than Team B, this is a 2. Lower numbers indicate less variance between total penalties in a game – that is, a closer number of calls for both teams.
We’ve also got new rules, new refs, promoted officials, and an updated pronunciation guide for 2025-26.
