Bruins to face Sabres, Senators to face Hurricanes in Round 1 of Stanley Cup playoffs
We are set for a couple of very entertaining matchups in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference set to face some pesky competition.
Following Tuesday night’s action, the Carolina Hurricanes are locked in for an opening-round clash with the Ottawa Senators, while the Buffalo Sabres are now set to take on the Boston Bruins.
The Sabres are riding a huge high, as the team is back in the playoffs, ending a league-record 15-year postseason drought. Thanks to strong play from the likes of Norris Trophy candidate and captain Rasmus Dahlin, scorers Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, Buffalo has been rolling for the last two-thirds of the season. It has led to not only a playoff spot, but the franchise’s first division title since 2009-10.
They face a Bruins team that, coincidentally, beat the Sabres that season. This year’s Boston squad has rallied after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign that led to significant offloading, including the trade of captain Brad Marchand. Yet, with David Pastrnak lighting the lamp on a consistent basis, the B’s could be a serious threat given their experience.
This will be the ninth postseason meeting between the longtime divisional rivals, with the Bruins winning six of their first eight encounters.
The Hurricanes are heading into the postseason with massive expectations. While the team has been a mainstay in the playoffs for the last several years, many believe this is the best roster Rod Brind’Amour has coached. Not only did the team win the Metropolitan Division for the second time, but Carolina also clinched the top seed in the East for the first time in the team’s history while based in North Carolina.
While the goaltending has been inconsistent, to say the least, the roster in front of them has been consistent, proving to be a force offensively and, in what has become customary under Brind’Amour, a strong defensive team.
They will take on a Senators team that is entering the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2013. After a sluggish start thanks to numerous on- and off-ice woes, the team turned things around in the second half, climbing out of the bottom of the Atlantic Division and snagging the second Wild Card spot in the East.
This will be the first time the two teams have ever met in the postseason.
In other Eastern Conference news, with the Montreal Canadiens losing on Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been granted home-ice advantage in their first-round series against the Habs.