Sabres have memorable return to playoffs with comeback win

Was it worth the wait, Buffalo Sabres fans? 15 years after Buffalo’s last playoff appearance, the Sabres delivered a doozy of a Game 1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Sunday. Despite outshooting and outchancing Boston, Buffalo found themselves down 2-0 in the third period thanks to goals by the Bruins’ Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm. The atmosphere inside Buffalo’s KeyBank Center was nervous at best, but it was all setting the stage for one of the most remarkable comebacks in postseason memory.

With less than eight minutes to go in the third, Sabres star Tage Thompson scored two consecutive goals to tie things up, leading to Mattias Samuelsson’s go-ahead goal with just under three and a half minutes left. Alex Tuch’s empty-net goal and David Pastrnak’s desperation backhand with under 10 second left rounded out the Sabres’ 4-3 victory, starting their 2026 playoff run with a bang.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed the electricity of Buffalo’s rousing Game 1 win.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Hutts, you’re a guy who played in Buffalo. What did you make of just, before we even get into the game, the atmosphere, the crowd, the swords they’re skating out from, the scenes from the streets? As someone who spent a lot of time in Buffalo, what did you make of the way that fanbase showed up for Game 1?

Carter Hutton: It was amazing. They dragged out the punching dummy, and they’re beating the heck out of it. They have rollerblades on. They’ve created such an atmosphere and the fanbase is just rocking. They go in and I think the atmosphere, they fed off. And then it was like a nervous energy, right, like you’re losing in that game, you’re not scoring, and then all of a sudden a big play by Tage Thompson. That play in the offensive zone behind the net on that wrap around is a world class play, the sell job and the quick hands to get that back out. A tough defensive play by (Charlie) McAvoy. There was a few points in that game where it felt the Bruins were just going to run this thing down. Even on the go-ahead goal, that puck has to get out of the zone. This is simple playoff hockey, and they end up finding the back of the net and the building looks like it’s about to explode.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Monday’s episode here…