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The Buffalo Sabers played in their first playoff game in 14 years, a game 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 quieted the boisterous Buffalo crowd when star center Morgan Geekie fired a slap shot into 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 a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff series against the Boston Bruins in Buffalo, New York, April 19, 2026. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP Photo)
The Bruins, after a scoreless second period, increased their lead in the third period. With just over a minute left in the third period, Elias Lindholm fired a wrist shot past Sabers goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to take a 2-0 lead.
The Sabers finally broke through against Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman when Team USA star Tage Thompson slipped behind the net and backhanded 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 collected the puck from a Bruins defender in front of the net and scored a goal past Swayman to tie the game at 2-2.
The Sabers took the lead just 52 seconds later, with the deafening crowd still jubilant after Thompson’s second goal.
As the public announcer read the tying goal, Mattias Samuelsson fired a 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 a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff series against the Boston Bruins in Buffalo, New York, April 19, 2026. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP Photo)
“It was probably the loudest sound I’ve ever heard in my life,” Luukkonen said. “It’s the fans who have waited so long. And so I’m really happy that we got a win 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 for the win.
“Those are the kind of games you live for,” Thompson said via NHL.com. “You want to be in these games. It took a while.”
For the Sabres, the comeback victory had been a long time coming. They have gone 5,473 days between playoff games since losing Game 7 of a first-round series in 2011 to the Philadelphia Flyers.
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Buffalo Sabers fans celebrate during the third period of Game 1 of an NHL first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Boston Bruins in Buffalo, New York, April 19, 2026. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP Photo)
The Sabers became the eighth NHL team to overcome a deficit of two or more goals in the final 10 minutes and win in regulation. And it was only the second time Buffalo won a playoff game while trailing by two in the third period.
“You could feel the building shaking, even upstairs. I guess they were saying the same thing,” Sabers coach Lindy Ruff said, according to NHL.com. “The atmosphere was incredible. It was great to bring this third period to our fans.”
The Sabers will look to take a 2-0 series lead when they face the Bruins on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
