Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin, left, and Alex Tuch are hosting the Bruins in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series Sunday. (AP photo)

As the Sabres opened practice Thursday, Buffalo city workers began hanging playoff banners on lamp posts lining Washington Street leading to the team’s arena entrance.

The significance wasn’t lost on Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin in realizing that for the first time in 15 years, the Stanley Cup playoff route finally includes a stop in Buffalo. The Boston Bruins and Sabres start a first round series Sunday night at 7:30 in Buffalo.

“It’s a crazy feeling,” Dahlin said. “I’ve been grinding here for a long time, and I finally get playoffs. It’s special. It’s something I’ve tried to do here for a long time. And now it’s finally real.”

Ending the NHL’s longest postseason drought, the Sabres’ return to the playoffs — and as first-time Atlantic Division champions — reflects a changing of the guard in the Eastern Conference.

Though familiar fixtures remain in Tampa Bay and Carolina, this year’s eight-team mix doesn’t include two-time defending Cup champion Florida or perennial contender Toronto. All three New York City-area teams were shut out of postseason play for the first time.

In their place are upstarts such as the Philadelphia Flyers, who last qualified in 2020. Montreal and Ottawa are making a second straight appearance following lengthy postseason lapses.

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins return after a three-year absence. The Boston Bruins are back after a one-year hiatus, making a 24-point jump under first-year coach Marco Sturm.

“I never thought, to be honest with you, about getting 100 points because I know how hard it is to get that amount in this league,” said Sturm whose team opens against Buffalo. “It’s a hard league, and that just says it all.”

The Bruins have been transformed since their 2019 run to the final. General manager Don Sweeney believes in how the team came together to bounce back from last season’s swoon.

“To get to 100 points is a pretty good testament to what this team put together over the course of the year, but it wasn’t easy,” Sweeney said. “It was nerve-racking, but our guys embraced it and they got it done.”

The Sabres are confident after making a remarkable turnaround from last in the East in early December to first place by going 39-9-4.

“The only way you get experience is to do what we did in the regular season and get there,” coach Lindy Ruff said, dismissing concern over the Sabres lacking playoff experience. “They handled all the pressure situations. When we needed to win games, the group came up.”