The Buffalo Sabres have made their first Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance since 2011, and their first round matchup is against the Boston Bruins. The Bruins, despite missing the postseason in 2025, are an experienced group that has been retooled by general manager Don Sweeney and head coach Marco Sturm. The same cannot be said for the Sabres; many of their players are young and lack playoff experience as a unit. The Bruins feature four 25-plus goal scorers in Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, David Pastrnak, and Viktor Arvidsson. Boston also has Jeremy Swayman between the pipes as a goalie and talented defenseman Charlie McAvoy.

The Sabres have a special goalie tandem that has been on fire in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon. They also have one of the best defensemen in the NHL, Rasmus Dahlin, who has been amazing and persevered through so much off the ice this season. Their first line trio of Peyton Krebs, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch has been among the league’s best as well.

Prediction: Boston Bruins Vs. Buffalo Sabres

Excitement surrounds Buffalo because of how impressive they have been during the regular season, finishing with 50 wins and the top record in the Atlantic Division. Dahlin and the Sabres keep the excitement growing and buzzing as they win their first playoff series since 2007 with their takedown of Pastrnak and the Bruins in seven games.

Montreal Canadiens Vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, while their opponent, the Montreal Canadiens, have now made the playoffs for back-to-back years. The Lightning are clearly deep in postseason experience, yet their results over the past three seasons have been far below expectations, with each ending in a first-round exit. Their future Hall of Fame goaltender, Andrei Vasilevskiy, has been the biggest reason they make the postseason, have high aspirations, and their downfall once the Stanley Cup Playoffs commence.

Offensively, with Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, and Brandon Hagel, the Lightning will score goals and put up numbers, but defensively, without Victor Hedman, they could be in trouble. The Canadiens have one of the most entertaining and attention-grabbing first line trios with Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky, who combined for 110 goals and 152 assists during the 2025-26 regular season. Both the Canadiens and the Lightning finished the season with 106 points and are evenly matched.

Prediction: Montreal Canadiens Vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Both teams have major defensive injuries, with Tampa Bay having Hedman out and the Canadiens being short Noah Dobson and Alexandre Carrier. Despite Caufield and the Canadiens’ best efforts, Vasilevskiy turns in a vintage performance and surges the Lightning to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals after winning the series in six games.