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The Buffalo Sabers played their first playoff game in 14 years, one they will never forget.
The Sabers scored four goals in the final eight minutes of the game to come back and beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 in electrifying fashion to take a 1-0 series lead Sunday night at KeyBank Center.
The Bruins calmed the rowdy Buffalo crowd when star center Morgan Geekie buried a shot in the back of the net from the high slot to give them a 1-0 lead about 11 minutes into the first period.
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Buffalo Sabers players celebrate a goal by defenseman Mattias Samuelsson during the third period of Game 1 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins in Buffalo, New York, on April 19, 2026. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP Photo)
The Bruins, after a scoreless second period, extended their lead in the third period. With just over a minute left in the third period, Elias Lindholm wristed a shot behind Sabers goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for a 2-0 lead.
The Sabers finally broke through on Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman when Team USA star Tage Thompson sneaked in from behind the net and hit the puck between Swayman and the post to cut the deficit in half.
Thompson, who led the Sabers with 40 goals in the regular season, wasn’t done yet. About three and a half minutes after scoring the first goal, he snatched the puck from a Bruins defenseman in front of the net and beat Swayman to tie the game at 2-2.
The Sabers took the lead just 52 seconds later, with the deafening crowd still jubilant from Thompson’s second goal.
As the announcer read the tying goal, Mattias Samuelsson shot from the slot past Swayman to give the team a 3-2 lead.
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Buffalo Sabers center Tage Thompson celebrates a goal during the third period of Game 1 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins in Buffalo, New York, on April 19, 2026. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP Photo)
“It was probably the loudest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” Luukkonen said. “The fans are the ones who have waited so long. That’s why I’m very happy to have achieved a victory tonight.”
The Sabers scored an empty-net goal to make it 4-2, but the Bruins scored one shortly after to make it 4-3, and the Sabers held on to win.
“These are the kind of games you live for,” Thompson said, via NHL.com. “You want to be in these games. It’s been a long time coming.”
For the Sabres, the comeback had been a long time coming. They’ve gone 5,473 days between playoff games since losing Game 7 of a 2011 first-round series to the Philadelphia Flyers.
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Buffalo Sabers fans celebrate during the third period of Game 1 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins in Buffalo, New York, on April 19, 2026. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP Photo)
The Sabers became the eighth NHL team to come back from a deficit of two or more goals in the final 10 minutes and win in regulation. And it was just the second time Buffalo won a playoff game when trailing by two in the third quarter.
“You could feel the building shaking, even upstairs, I guess they said the same thing,” Sabers coach Lindy Ruff said, according to NHL.com. “The atmosphere was incredible. It was great to give our fans that third period.”
The Sabers will look to take a 2-0 series lead when they play the Bruins on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
