1 hour ago
3
Carolina Matovac, the fiancée of Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, was given a warm welcome in her first trip to Western New York since her heart failed during a vacation last summer in France.
Matovac had spent most of the last seven months recovering in Sweden, where Dahlin and Matovac are both from, after receiving a lifesaving heart transplant, and had not been in Buffalo.
She was shown on the video board at KeyBank Center during the Sabres’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Bruins on Wednesday and given a rousing ovation from Buffalo fans, as players on the ice tapped their sticks and Dahlin looked up with a smile on his face during the sweet moment.
Beautiful moment as Rasmus Dahlin's fiancé, Carolina, was honored after returning to Buffalo. 👏👏👏
She had underwent a heart transplant surgery a couple months ago and was previously recovering in Sweden. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ySCzUeHpsZ
“Unbelievable, the support we’ve had for a long time now,” Dahlin told reporters after the game.
“Getting this today, it was special, for sure.”
Matovac arrived in Buffalo this week, according to the Associated Press.
The couple shared in September that Matovac received a heart transplant after she felt ill for several days while they were vacationing in France, “which quickly turned into her experiencing major heart failure.”
She received CPR on “multiple occasions and up to a couple of hours at a time,” and Matovac later revealed in a social media post in January that she was pregnant at the time of her heart failure.
Rasmus Dahlin with Carolina Matovac from a January 2026 Instagram post. @carolinamatovac/InstagramMatovac was on life support for weeks before the transplant, which occurred in France.
In the January post, Matovac wrote that it was her unborn child who “played a vital role” in her seeking medical attention during the trip.
“If it weren’t for my worries about you, we might never have called for help and gone to the hospital,” she wrote, which was posted on the day she was supposed to give birth.
Rasmus Dahlin in action for the Sabres on March 25, 2026. Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images“You are our hero, and I hope you are being well cared for in heaven. We love you baby Matovac Dahlin,” the post concluded.
Dahlin had been to Sweden on multiple occasions and in November, he took a leave of absence to return to Sweden to be with Motavac while she recovered.
The Sabres are in first in the Atlantic Division at 44-20-8.
English (US)