- Alex Tuch grew up a Sabres fan in Syracuse and now hosts Game 7 of the Eastern Second Round vs. Montreal
- Forward has played three career Game 7s and won two, both with the Golden Knights
- Read below for Tuch’s Sunday quotes from Montreal ahead of the 7:30 ET puck drop
Alex Tuch is about to live every kid-in-his-basement fantasy he ever had.
The Sabres winger grew up rooting for Buffalo in Syracuse, where one of his neighbors happened to be then-Sabres forward Tim Connolly. Monday, he gets to play Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at KeyBank Center against the Montreal Canadiens.
Asked Sunday in Montreal what it means to play a winner-take-all game in front of the fans he grew up cheering for, Tuch laid it out:
“It’s hard to explain. Everybody’s going to have nerves. Everyone’s sitting in the same spot. If you’re not nervous, you’re not human. But it’s exciting. Have fun with it. It’s the reason why we play hockey. It’s what you thought about when you were playing street hockey and playing in the backyard. It’s what you dream of. And for me to do it at KeyBank Center is a dream come true.”
He’s also been getting in reps at home. Tuch said he’s spent every day there over the past three or four months playing mini-sticks with his three-and-a-half-year-old son, Tripp. Every game in the basement plays out the same way. Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 7. Everything on the line.
Now the script writes itself.
This will be Tuch’s fourth career Game 7. He won two with the Golden Knights, taking down Vancouver 3-0 in the 2020 second round and Minnesota 6-2 in the 2021 first round.
The first one still stings. Vegas led San Jose 3-0 in 2019 when Cody Eakin took a five-minute major and the Sharks ripped four power-play goals in 4:01 to flip the night. Barclay Goodrow won it in overtime.
Tuch hasn’t forgotten that night:
“That was pretty devastating. We thought we were the better team. That was one of the lows.”
The Sabres earned the trip back to Buffalo by hammering the Canadiens 8-3 in Game 6, with Rasmus Dahlin posting a five-point night — the first defenseman ever to do that in an elimination game.
Puck drops Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, SN and TVAS.
