Sabres clinch Atlantic
The Buffalo Sabres clinched the Atlantic Division with a 5‑1 win in Chicago and will host the Boston Bruins for Games 1 and 2 as the playoffs return to Buffalo for the first time in 15 years. (spectrumlocalnews.com)
Buffalo wrapped up the Atlantic Division on April 13 with a 5-1 win in Chicago, locking in home ice for the opening round against Boston. (nhl.com) Tage Thompson scored his 39th and 40th goals in that win over the Blackhawks, and Buffalo reached 50 victories for the season. (nhl.com) The first-round matchup became official on April 15 after Boston beat New Jersey, sending the Bruins to Buffalo for Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven series. (wivb.com) Buffalo finished on top of the Atlantic after going 50-23-8 through 81 games, two points ahead of Tampa Bay and six ahead of Boston in the final regular-season standings snapshot. (espn.com) That changed the playoff map for a franchise that had already ended the National Hockey League’s longest active postseason drought this season. Buffalo had not won its division since 2009-10. (espn.com) It also changed where the playoffs start. Buffalo will open a postseason series at home for the first time since 2011, with KeyBank Center hosting Stanley Cup playoff games again after a 15-year gap. (spectrumlocalnews.com) Boston arrives as the Atlantic’s third-place team after a one-year absence from the playoffs, and the matchup revives a rivalry from Buffalo’s last postseason appearance in 2010, when the Bruins beat the Sabres in the first round. (wivb.com; sports.yahoo.com) The National Hockey League’s 2026 playoffs begin April 18, so Buffalo’s division title did more than hang a banner: it guaranteed that the city’s first playoff weekend in a generation starts on home ice. (msn.com; nhl.com)
