NHL Games on TV Today – Thursday, May 14, 2026 (ET)
Two games on Thursday in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs second round, and both carry enormous weight. Buffalo and Montreal meet in a swing Game 5 with the series level, and Anaheim faces elimination for the first time all round when Vegas visits Honda Center.
TNT, truTV and HBO Max carry both games in the United States, with Sportsnet, SN360, CBC and TVA Sports covering them in Canada.
Thursday’s NHL Schedule at a Glance
| Time (ET) | Matchup | Series Status | US TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7:00 PM | Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres (Game 5) | Series tied 2-2 | TNT / truTV / HBO Max |
| 9:30 PM | Vegas Golden Knights at Anaheim Ducks (Game 6) | Vegas leads 3-2 | TNT / truTV / HBO Max |
🏒 Game of the Day: Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres (Game 5)
7:00 PM ET | TNT / truTV / HBO Max (US) · Sportsnet / CBC / TVA Sports (Canada)
Buffalo answered the two blowouts with the smartest game it has played all series, winning 3-2 at the Bell Centre on Tuesday to send this back to KeyBank Center level at two games apiece. And the turning point was a change in the crease.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who had spent three weeks as Buffalo’s backup, returned in Game 4 and stopped 29 of 31 shots for a .935 save percentage. Lindy Ruff has ridden the hot hand throughout this postseason and confirmed Luukkonen will start again tonight – a notable call given Alex Lyon carried the Sabres past Boston and into the second round.
Montreal, meanwhile, has now failed to build on momentum at the moment it mattered. The Canadiens had won consecutive games for the first time this spring after Game 3 and looked like the better team through much of the series, with Alex Newhook scoring four goals across Games 2 and 3, Cole Caufield finally on the board and Lane Hutson running the power play. But their earlier alternating pattern reasserted itself, and now everything resets.
Game 5 in a series tied 2-2 has historically been close to decisive – the winner goes on to take the series around 80 percent of the time. Buffalo is chasing its first Eastern Conference Final since 2007 and is unbeaten at home in this round; Montreal has won at KeyBank Center already this series, taking Game 2 by a 5-1 score.
Prediction: Montreal’s depth scoring breaks through again – Canadiens win a high-scoring Game 5 on the road.
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Anaheim Ducks (Game 6)
9:30 PM ET | TNT / truTV / HBO Max (US) · Sportsnet / SN360 / TVA Sports (Canada)
Anaheim’s remarkable spring reaches its first elimination game. The Ducks lost Game 5 by a 3-2 score in overtime on Tuesday, a result that could easily have gone the other way: Lukas Dostal stopped 29 of 32 and Anaheim was in it to the final shift, but Carter Hart was marginally better with 32 saves on 34 shots.
Hart has started every game of the postseason for Vegas and has been the quiet backbone of this run. Dostal, by contrast, carries a 2.75 goals-against average and .885 save percentage across five games in this round – solid, not spectacular – and the Ducks need his best performance yet.
Joel Quenneville’s young group has already exceeded every expectation by eliminating Edmonton and pushing the Golden Knights to six. Beckett Sennecke, Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier and Jackson LaCombe have all been excellent, and Honda Center has been a genuine advantage – Anaheim won Game 4 there and pushed Game 5 to overtime on the road.
Vegas will be without the cushion of home ice but has the deeper, more experienced lineup, the best penalty kill in the playoffs, and a group that has closed out series before. A Game 7 would be back in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Prediction: Vegas leans on its experience and closes it out in six.
Out west, the picture is already set: Colorado eliminated Minnesota on Wednesday to reach its first Western Conference Final since 2022, and the Avalanche now wait on tonight’s result in Anaheim. Carolina has been waiting in the East since sweeping Philadelphia.
