BUFFALO, N.Y. — Mattias Samuelsson said the Buffalo Sabres are heading into the postseason with something they had not felt in years: belief, noise and a building full of fans who care enough to make every night feel different. A few days before Buffalo’s first playoff game since 2011, the 26-year-old defenseman said the atmosphere at KeyBank Center has matched the team’s surge to an Atlantic Division championship.
“I feel like here, almost every single person in KeyBank is actually passionate about this team. They’re not just at the game for something to do,” Samuelsson said. “I feel like here, almost every single person in KeyBank is actually passionate about this team. They’re not just at the game for something to do,”
That kind of response carries weight for a team that had never finished better than fifth in the Atlantic Division during Samuelsson’s tenure before this season. Buffalo’s climb to the top of the division came after a 14-year playoff drought that shaped the mood of the organization and the players who lived through it. Samuelsson was drafted 32nd overall in 2018 and has become one of the Sabres’ leaders, with 41 points and 154 blocks this season while contributing at both ends of the rink.
The turnaround has also changed the tone around the room. Samuelsson said he felt the emotion building when the national anthems were played before Game 1, a moment that captured how much the moment means to a team that has spent so long waiting for this chance. The Sabres have already cleared one barrier by winning the division; now they are trying to turn a breakthrough season into something larger.
Samuelsson said the club’s ultimate goal remains the Stanley Cup, which is the only finish that will make this season feel complete. For a team that has spent years searching for a way out of the middle and into contention, the next few games will show whether Buffalo’s new standard is real or just a brief pause in a longer climb.
