BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin heard his name over the arena speakers, looked up at the scoreboard and broke into a smile upon seeing his fiancee waving to the fans from a suite on Wednesday night.
It was a moment Dahlin had long dreamed of: having Carolina Matovac back in Buffalo and attending her first Sabres game since her heart failed while the couple vacationed in France last summer.
As the crowd cheered, Dahlin joined his teammates as they slapped their sticks on the boards during a break in the first period of Buffalo’s 4-3 overtime loss to Boston.
“Unbelievable, the support we’ve had for a long time now,” Dahlin said. “Getting this today, it was special, for sure.”
Matovac being able to travel was the next big step in her recovery after receiving a lifesaving heart transplant. She arrived in Buffalo this week after spending much of the past seven months recuperating in the couple’s native Sweden.
Her condition was kept under wraps before Dahlin revealed what happened upon reporting for training camp. In a message posted on the team’s website, Dahlin detailed how Matovac nearly died.
He said Matovac felt sick for several days before her heart failed, saying she required CPR on “multiple occasions and up to a couple of hours at a time.”
“Without her receiving lifesaving CPR, the result would have been unimaginable. It is hard to even think about the worst-case scenario,” Dahlin wrote.
Matovac spent weeks on life support before receiving a new heart. In January, Matovac revealed that she was pregnant when her heart failed, adding that her unborn child played “a vital role” in the discovery of the problem. The fetus, however, did not survive.
“You will always hold a special place in our hearts as our first baby, even though we never had the chance to meet. Our love for you is endless,” she wrote on what was supposed to be her due date. “If it weren’t for my worries about you, we might never have called for help and gone to the hospital.”
Dahlin made a few brief trips home this season to be with Matovac.
He has shown leadership and determination amid the personal crisis, helping to lead a turnaround for Buffalo, which is on the cusp of ending an NHL-record 14-season playoff drought.
With the defenseman second on the team with 65 points, the Sabres are on a 33-6-4 run that has vaulted them from last place in the Eastern Conference in early December to a tie for first.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (26), left, reacts after scoring a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 19, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Thien-An Truong)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tony Vitello turned down the basket of pastries during his morning coaches' meeting on opening day, and that became an immediate victory in his book.
“You want as many wins as possible in a day. I avoided one of those pastries, and they all looked pretty deadly, so I'm at least 1-0 today," Vitello said ahead of his managerial debut Wednesday with the San Francisco Giants against the Yankees.
He didn't win on the field as San Francisco took a 7-0 loss in its opener.
“On a personal level but also the whole team everybody would like a better result,” Vitello said. “But the results are going to fluctuate. I think the biggest thing is a more competitive effort would have been better.”
There was still important work to do even hours before first pitch, and there will be more after this one. Vitello needed a few refreshers on the major league rules book earlier in the day.
Even on the day of the season opener, San Francisco's new manager acknowledged the learning won't stop anytime soon as he makes the leap from college baseball to the big leagues.
“Just reviewing a lot of things today, so some extra conversations,” he said. “I've done it before, get the group together and ask as many dumb questions as possible. You'd rather look foolish earlier than later.”
Asked about any nerves and whether he slept well ahead of this career milestone, Vitello chuckled and joked, “Yeah, do I look nervous?”
“No, I'm just teasing. I answered this question several times today. It took a while to get to sleep but that's kind of the norm for me when we play a night game,” he said. “You get out of here at whatever time and then you'd like some cool-down time and reflect on the day and also start looking toward tomorrow. Then once I was out I was out. Patience pays.”
The 47-year-old mades the big jump from coaching the University of Tennessee to the top dugout step with a storied franchise determined to return to the playoffs following a four-year absence.
His family is visiting and has helped with Vitello's car and condo.
“People taking weight off my shoulders,” he said.
And the manager is finding some comfort in his new surroundings, saying “I like living here.”
Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey has been impressed. He made the unconventional hire of Vitello to replace the fired Bob Melvin and credited Vitello for his thoughtfulness when having the tough conversations with players about roster decisions.
“He's a relationship-maker type of person,” Posey said. “I think the first time going through this having to bond with guys for six weeks or more and then say, ‘Hey, you’re not on the team' was not something that was easy for him, and I personally really appreciate that because sometimes I think in the professional ranks of things it's, ‘Hey, it's part of the business, it's part of the business,' which it is but also you're not only impacting that individual you're impacting families as well. So I'm appreciative that he is thoughtful as far as what the impact is on decisions that we make.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone realizes the scrutiny and pressure Vitello will face. They met briefly at the winter meetings in December and Boone cherishes the managerial fraternity.
“Look, everyone's got a different path. He came in with a lot more experience coaching and managing and things like that than I did — obviously managing really successfully, or head coaching really successfully in the college ranks,” Boone said. “I know he's obviously had a ton of success and earned the opportunity and the right to be here.”
And in fitting fashion, the energetic Vitello skipped out of an iconic San Francisco motorized cable car in his No. 23 jersey during pregame introductions and lined up on the field alongside his players, ready to get going.
“The fanfare before the game was tremendous,” Vitello said. “It's kind of hard to take that all in because you're doing stuff up until the last minute pretty much before the game starts but all in all I think the fans at least that part of the whole deal got what they signed up for.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello during a news conference ahead of MLB Opening Night game against the New York Yankees at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello walks on the field before a baseball game against the New York Yankees in San Francisco, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello during a news conference ahead of MLB Opening Night game against the New York Yankees at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
