The Bruins vs Sabres playoff series opens Sunday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., with Boston and Buffalo meeting in Game 1 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs matchup. Boston arrives as the Eastern Conference’s No. 5 seed, while Buffalo holds the No. 4 seed and home ice for the opener.
The teams reached the postseason with different records but similar expectations of a close series. Boston finished 45-27-10 with 100 points, while Buffalo went 50-23-9 for 109 points. The regular-season meetings tilted slightly toward Boston, which won three of the four games, including a 3-1 home win on Oct. 11, 2025, a 4-3 overtime victory at home on Oct. 30, 2025, and a 4-3 overtime win in Buffalo on March 25. Buffalo’s lone win came Dec. 27 in Buffalo, when it beat Boston 4-1.
Jeremy Swayman started in net for the Bruins after playing 55 games in the regular season and finishing with a 2.71 goals-against average and a.908 save percentage. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen started for the Sabres after 34 regular-season games, a 2.52 goals-against average, a.910 save percentage and one shutout. Both clubs also arrive with recent results that underline the stakes: Boston beat the New Jersey Devils 4-0 at home on Tuesday night, while Buffalo lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Dallas Stars at home on Wednesday night.
The shape of the matchup is already clear. Buffalo finished with more points and the higher seed, but Boston has taken the edge in the direct meetings and won the last time the teams saw each other. That mix of playoff position, recent form and head-to-head results leaves Game 1 as less a reset than a continuation of a season-long argument that has now moved to the postseason.
