Canadiens are heading to the second round of the NHL playoffs after going through a rebuild

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Martin St. Louis pounded his chest in the locker room, Jakub Dobes received a shaving cream pie in the face from his fellow goalies and the Montreal Canadiens celebrated a long-awaited series victory.

"We're not leaving," St. Louis told his players, quoting Leonardo DiCaprio from "The Wolf of Wall Street" movie.

Indeed, the Canadiens are heading to Buffalo for a second-round series after eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 victory in Game 7 on Sunday night.

It's the first time Montreal has advanced since losing the Stanley Cup Finals to Tampa Bay in 2021. Game 1 against the Sabres is Wednesday night in Buffalo.

Before shifting attention to the next series, the Canadiens enjoyed their victory following a hard-fought, evenly-contested series that featured seven games decided by one goal and four that went to overtime.

"I feel like you can't take the player out of me, right?" St. Louis said about his triumphant speech. "I don't try to be in the locker room a lot. To me, this is their space. It's their team. It's not my team. I try and steer them. But every now and then I have my moment with them. I try and pick my spot and a night like tonight, I wanted to be with them and we had some fun."

Despite being held to just nine shots - the Canadiens are the first team to win a playoff game with fewer than 10 shots on goal since shots were first tracked in the 1959-60 season - Montreal found a way to beat a veteran team that has plenty of experience in big games.

The Canadiens got a couple lucky bounces on goals by Nick Suzuki and Alex Newhook. But they would be going home if not for Dobes' heroics. The rookie goaltender stopped 28 shots and outplayed Andrei Vasilevskiy over the seven games.

"Many times in the season the guys bailed me out and helped me out and I tried to do the same and vice versa," Dobes said. "Sometimes they don't play good. Sometimes I don't play good. They always got my back. I always got theirs. That's our mentality. We have a really good group, good leaders, good locker room. This wasn't anything special. I was just trying to keep the guys in it. I was just waiting for them to get going and that's exactly what happened."

As for the shaving cream to the face, Dobes said: "Can't wait for next practice. I'll have something prepared."

The Canadiens moved on because they played like the looser team. While the Lightning seemed tight at times - they lost three home games - upstart Montreal is having fun and feeding off their Hockey Hall of Fame coach.

The Canadiens are the only team from Canada still playing in the postseason after Ottawa and Edmonton were already knocked out.

It's been a long road back here. After losing to the Lightning in the Cup Final, the Canadiens were last in the NHL in 2021-22. They were bottom five in the league the next two seasons before St. Louis led to the playoffs last season only to exit in the first round.

With Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Dobes leading the way, the Canadiens have a shot against Buffalo. The Sabres were the NHL's best team after Jan. 1 and snapped a 14-year playoff drought with 109 points this season, only three more than Montreal.

"After the Cup Final, there was a lot of tough times and a lot of guys left," Suzuki said. "We started this rebuild and slowly but surely, drafted some really good players and have an amazing coach. It's probably faster than a lot of people expected but when you get great players together with a great system and great leadership, things can turn quickly."