Downed fences, beat-up mannequins headline KeyBank Center scene for Sabres' Game 1 win

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The sounds that echoed around KeyBank Center were deafening as the goal horn went off. Fans around the arena jumped in the air, waving their white "We're Back" towels and embracing those alongside them.

Mattias Samuelsson's goal with 3:24 left in the Buffalo Sabres' opening game of their playoff series against the Boston Bruins broke a 2-2 tie. It was a climatic return to the playoffs after an NHL record 14-season drought for the Sabres, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 4-3 in Game 1.

"[The sound when Samuelsson scored is] probably the loudest I've ever heard in my life," goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen said. "It's just one of those things you can't really ... you know that it's going to be loud, you know it's going to be electric, but you never can kind of imagine how loud it's going to get."

Captain Rasmus Dahlin said that he couldn't hear anything except the crowd.

"It was awesome," Dahlin said. "Run it back next game."

Fans celebrated the return of playoff hockey to western New York for hours on Sunday before the game, carrying around a variety of self-made replica Stanley Cups, punching a mannequin wearing a Bruins jersey, drinking from "beer sabres" and simply celebrating the return of playoff hockey.

So, now there's a mannequin with a bruins jersey being hit in, uh, interesting ways pic.twitter.com/j36Q5Mvn64

— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) April 19, 2026

The Sabres held a watch party set up for fans around the corner from the arena at the Canalside. The reaction when Samuelsson scored was so effusive that they knocked over the fencing as they jumped and celebrated. Of course, as it is Buffalo in April, a snowy mix fell on the fans, who helped pick the fence back up.

Sabres center Tage Thompson acknowledged he'd been thinking about what skating out onto the ice for the start of Game 1 would feel like for the past few days and described the fan reaction as "unbelievable."