Bills send “Let’s go Buffalo” vibes to Sabres before Stanley Cup playoffs opener
· Yahoo Sports
The Buffalo Bills know a thing or two about ending a long playoff drought.
Back in 2017, the Bills stopped a 17-year streak of futility by snagging a wild-card berth when the Cincinnati Bengals upset the Baltimore Ravens in the regular-season finale.
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So it’s understandable that Buffalo’s NFL team would want to pump up its NHL counterpart. The Buffalo Sabres play their first Stanley Cup playoff game since 2011 on Sunday, April 19.
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Early on Sunday, the Bills took to X to post a good-luck video from their players with the caption “S-A-B-R-E-S!”
“Good luck, boys,” Bills defensive end Michael Hoecht said in the video. “Cycle the puck, shots in deep, shots on net.”
Said offensive lineman Spencer Brown, “In Tage Thompson we trust.”
“Appreciate everything ya’ll did, pulling up on us,” veteran safety Damar Hamlin said. “It’s ya’ll turn to go handle it.”
Although the 2017 postseason run ended with a 10-3 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Bills now have made seven consecutive playoff appearances. Buffalo advanced to a pair of AFC title games under superstar quarterback Josh Allen.
Like the Bills, the Sabres have never won a world championship. However, the Bills boast a pair of AFL titles (1964 and 1965).
As for the Sabres, they ended an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought by winning the Atlantic Division in 2025-26. Buffalo went 50-23-9 to rack up 109 points, three more than the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens. The point total represents the franchise’s most since 2006-07, when the Sabres advanced to the Eastern Conference Final.
Meanwhile, Buffalo fans are thrilled with their team’s return to the playoffs. The Sabres are anticipating a raucous atmosphere with the seventh-seeded Boston Bruins visit KeyBank Center for Game 1 on Sunday.
“I think it’s going to be a whole other animal,” Buffalo forward Alex Tuch said, per NHL.com. “I think the roof’s going to probably pop off the building. They’re going to be so pumped and ready to go.”
Buffalo hosts Boston at 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN and the ESPN app.