To Buffalo Sabres fans were excited for their NHL playoff drought to come to an end, would be an understatement.
The Sabres’ supporters sparked wild scenes long before Buffalo played its first postseason game in 15 years against the Boston Bruins on Sunday evening.
Hundreds of Sabres fans flooded the streets surrounding KeyBank Center in Buffalo hours before puck drop in their dramatic 4-3 Game 1 victory in Round 1 of the NHL playoffs.
Despite the 38-degree temperature and light snowfall, fans turned out in force, gathering in jerseys ahead of the game.
Some supporters were even captured beating up a mannequin dressed in a Boston Bruins jersey.
The fans skated around the dummy on rollerblades before flinging themselves at the mannequin and tackling it to the ground.
Buffalo Sabres fans went wild ahead of their playoff game against the Boston Bruins
Some hyped-up supporters were captured tackling a mannequin in a Bruins jersey
The fans gathered in wild scenes ahead of their first postseason game in 15-years
They then began taking it turns to land a series of punches on it, while their fellow supporters egged them on and cheered.
Other fans crammed into the doorways of KeyBank Center and began cheering when the ushers finally arrived to begin letting them in.
Outside, hundreds more fans gathered for Pregame in the Plaza before migrating to Canalside to watch the Sabres play on two concert screens.
When Mattias Samuelson’s go-ahead goal went in, the eruption of celebrations broke down the metal barriers at the front as beers and Stanley Cup replicas went flying.
The Sabres won their first Atlantic Division this season and snapped an NHL-record
The playoff win was Buffalo’s first at home – and first overall – since a 1-0 victory over Philadelphia in Game 4 of a first-round series April 20, 2011. The Sabres proceeded to lose the series in seven games.
The meeting with Boston will be a franchise record-tying ninth for Buffalo, and the first since the Bruins eliminated the Sabres in a six-game, first-round series in 2010.
And they did not disappoint their fans.
Hundreds of fans turned out in Buffalo jerseys and crazy blue, white and yellow face paint
Thousands of fans poured into KeyBank Center hours before puck drop
Mattias Samuelsson scored the go-ahead goal with 3:24 left in the third period
Buffalo overcame a two-goal deficit in the final eight minutes to beat the Boston Bruins 4-3.
Tage Thompson scored goals 3:42 apart to tie it and Samuelsson scored with 3:24 left before Alex Tuch sealed the victory by scoring into an empty net with 1:12 left in nearly blowing the roof off the arena.
Trailing 2-0 after Elias Lindholm scored 1:08 into the third period, Buffalo finally caught a spark from Thompson, who led the team with 40 goals this season.
Thompson’s first goal came on a wrap-around backhander with 7:58 remaining. He then tied it by getting to a loose puck to the left of the Boston net, and firing a low shot inside the far post with 4:16 remaining.
With the crowd still buzzing, Samuelsson scored 52 seconds later. Teammate Jack Quinn got to the puck deep in the Bruins zone and fed Samuelsson, who snapped a high shot in from the left circle.
