The Buffalo Sabres are about to enter unfamiliar territory, as they’ll be appearing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 15 seasons. What’s more, they haven’t won a postseason series in 20 campaigns.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff hopes a matchup against the team they’ve faced the most helps them end that drought as Buffalo meets the Boston Bruins in a first-round series of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs that begins Sunday. It will be the ninth postseason meeting between the rivals, with Boston having won six of the previous eight – including their clash in the 2010 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
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A candidate to win the Jack Adams Award for the second time in his coaching career, Ruff was a defenseman/left wing for the Sabres in their first three playoff series against the Bruins, who won all three (1982, 1983, 1988). The 66-year-old was then behind Buffalo’s bench for its conference semifinal victory over Boston in 1999 and the quarterfinal loss in 2010.
Those two meetings took place during Ruff’s first head-coaching stint with the Sabres, which spanned from 1997-2013. Following four-season tenures with the Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils, he returned to upstate New York prior to the 2024-25 campaign. The team recorded just 79 points but made a huge turnaround this season by earning 109, its highest total since winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2006-07 with a franchise high-tying 113, to win the Atlantic Division title.
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The Bruins, who missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2016, return after being one of five teams in the East to register at least 100 points. Boston won three of its four meetings with Buffalo in 2025-26, including two in overtime, and was victorious in its final two regular-season contests after enduring a five-game slide (0-3-2). The Sabres enter the postseason with a five-game point streak.
NHL betting odds at the major sportsbooks see the Sabres as the favorites in the first-round series, with futures betting odds in the -175 to -210 range. Meanwhile, the Bruins are priced from +145 to +170. Learn how to read betting odds here.
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EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST-ROUND SERIES
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TEAM
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DRAFTKINGS
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FANDUEL
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CAESARS
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BETMGM
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Buffalo Sabres
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-175
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-178
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-210
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-190
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Boston Bruins
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+145
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+146
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+170
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+155
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Pick: Sabres to advance
History says the Bruins should move on to the second round, as they are 6-2 against the Sabres in the postseason and went 3-1-0 in the 2025-26 season series. But if you’ve followed Buffalo at all this campaign, those results can be thrown out the window.
Two of the Sabres’ losses to the Bruins took place over their first 29 games, a span during which they went 11-14-4. Buffalo proceeded to go 39-9-5, a stretch that began with a franchise record-tying 10-game winning streak and during which the team suffered back-to-back regulation losses only once.
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Tage Thompson led the Sabres in goals for the fifth consecutive season with 40, marking the third time in four campaigns he reached that plateau. The 28-year-old center, who was a member of the United States’ gold medal-winning team at the Winter Olympics in February, will be eager to find the back of the net in his first career playoff series as he led Buffalo with five points against Boston this season but did not net a tally.
The Sabres have a number of other offensive weapons as Alex Tuch (33), Josh Doan (25), Jason Zucker (24) and Jack Quinn (20) all reached the 20-goal mark, with Doan and Quinn setting career highs. Meanwhile, Zucker led Buffalo with three tallies against the Bruins this campaign.
Boston has some dangerous players as David Pastrnak recorded 100 points to join Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito as the only players in franchise history to hit the century mark at least four times, while Morgan Geekie (team-leading 39) and Pavel Zacha (30) set career highs in goals. But something magical seems to be happening for the Sabres this season, which I don’t see ending in this series.
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