Game 1 Preview: Bruins and Sabres begin their first round series

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BUFFALO, NEW YORK - MARCH 25: Fraser Minten #93 of the Boston Bruins battles for position against Alex Tuch #89 of the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game on March 25, 2026 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images

Just the facts​

• When: Tonight, 7:30 PM
• Where: KeyBank Center – Buffalo, NY
• How to follow: NESN, ESPN, 98.5 The Sports Hub
• Opposing perspective:Die by the Blade

Know your enemy​

• Tage Thompson: 40G-41A-81PTS; Rasmus Dahlin: 19G-55A-74PTS; Alex Tuch: 33G-33A-66PTS
• Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen: 22-9-3, 2.52 GAA, .910 save percentage

*Stats listed above are from the regular season

Game notes​

• After what feels like a few weeks of waiting, the Bruins and Sabres will begin their first round series tonight in Buffalo. Compared to how long Sabres fans have been waiting for this day, however, three or four days will seem like the blink of an eye.
• This will be the first playoff game in Buffalo since April 24, 2011, a 5-4 OT loss to the Flyers in Game 6 of their first round series.
• With Alex Lyon still recovering from a late-season injury, the Bruins will see Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in net for Buffalo tonight and likely for the majority of the series, unless he struggles. Lyon has returned to practice, so he could be a late-series option for Buffalo, if needed.
• The Bruins don’t appear to have any fresh injury concerns ahead of Game 1. Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt will be available after each of their partners had babies earlier this week.
• All signs point to James Hagens being in the lineup for Game 1, as others competing for his spot made up the fifth line at practice earlier this week. He looked fine in his NHL tune-up, but it’ll be interesting to see how he fares in playoff hockey (though you could say something similar about several of the Bruins young players).
• Jeremy Swayman will be the Bruins starter in net. While the playoffs are a different animal, Swayman is 8-1-1 in ten career games against Buffalo.
• Aside from Hagens’s status, which seems relatively set, one place where Marco Sturm will have decisions to make is on the blue line. Mason Lohrei has been up and down all season, while Jordan Harris and Henri Jokiharju had some good minutes in the last few games of the regular season.
• As this is an ESPN game and there might be some pomp and circumstance (understandably) from the home team, I wouldn’t be surprised if this game starts a bit after 7:30, so…plan accordingly.

See ya tonight!

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