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The Buffalo Sabers played their first playoff game in 14 years, a game they would 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 silenced the raucous Buffalo crowd when star center Morgan Geekie buried a slap shot into 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, on April 19, 2026. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP Photo)
After a scoreless second period, the Bruins extended their lead in the third period. With just over a minute left in the third period, Elias Lindholm snuck a wrist shot behind Sabers goalkeeper Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for a 2-0 lead.
The Sabers finally broke through against Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman when Team USA star Tage Thompson snuck around 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 snagged the puck away from a Bruins defenseman in front of the net and slotted home past Swayman to tie the game at 2-2.
The Sabers took the lead just 52 seconds later, with the deafening crowd still cheering after Thompson’s second goal.
As the game-tying goal was read over the public address system, Mattias Samuelsson ripped 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, 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. So I’m really happy 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.
“It’s the kind of game 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 victory had been a long time coming. They went 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 a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff series against the Boston Bruins in Buffalo, New York, on April 19, 2026. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP Photo)
The Sabers became the NHL’s eighth team to rally 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 period.
“You could feel the building shaking, even upstairs, I think 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 the 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.
