Monday night, Alex Newhook scored the second consecutive series winning goal for his Montreal Canadiens, in a winner-take-all game seven in overtime against the Buffalo Sabres.
This comes after an already outstanding playoff run for the 25-year old forward, who is now tied for third in total goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Newhook is a very offensively gifted player, but nobody could have predicted that he’d be doing what he’s been doing.
Just to rewind a bit, Newhook was selected 15th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft after a very impressive junior career.
He subsequently made his Avalanche debut in 2021, where he got some playing time in their second round exit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
His first full season came in 2022, where he became a Stanley Cup Champion with Colorado, nabbing four points in 12 games played.
After a decent sophomore season in Colorado, he would be traded to the Montreal Canadiens during the 2023 offseason, where he missed a portion of his first year with an injury, while his second year saw him post statistical career lows.
Entering this season, Newhook was looking to bounce back, and although his season was riddled with injuries again, he did post 25 points in 42 games, a very impressive feat all things considered.
That takes us to their first round series against Tampa Bay, where Newhook only put up a single point in the first six games of the series. He then finally broke through when he scored the game winning goal for Montreal in game seven.
This was the turning point for Alex Newhook in this playoff run. Entering round two against Buffalo, he went pointless in game one, before scoring twice in game two. He followed that up with another two goal performance in game three and yet another goal in game four.
He would add a single assist in the following two games, before scoring the second consecutive series winning goal for the Canadiens in game seven, this time doing so in overtime.
In 14 Stanley Cup Playoff Games in 2026, Newhook has scored 7 goals along with 2 assists for a total of 9 points. Before this run, he had played 31 career playoff games, scoring only one goal and adding seven assists. This is a true breakout from Newhook in every sense.
Newhook also became the first Montreal Canadiens player ever to score a game seven overtime winner on the road.
Montreal is now just four wins away from appearing in the Stanley Cup Finals, as they’ll now play the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals, which begins on Thursday night.
