The 2006-07 Ottawa Senators season is best remembered as the only time the team made it to the Stanley Cup Final. That year, they won the Eastern Conference Championship in five games against the Buffalo Sabres, with Daniel Alfredsson scoring the biggest goal in franchise history.
However, earlier that season, on this day in history (February 22), the same two teams managed to turn a routine regular season game into something unforgettable. Sens tough guy Chris Neil was at the center of it all, as he so often was.
With the Sabres leading 3-2 early in the second period, Buffalo’s Chris Drury stole the puck from Jason Spezza at the Senators’ blue line. Drury cut to the middle and attempted a pass toward the net, but delayed just long enough for Neil to catch up with him.
Drury was focused on his pass and had no idea Neil was closing in on him from behind. Neil delivered a shoulder check, and Drury’s head took most of the impact. The collision left Drury bloodied and dazed on the ice, prompting a furious response from the Sabres. Drew Stafford came to his linemate’s defense, but things didn’t go his way. He and Neil each received five-minute majors for fighting.
But the Buffalo crowd hadn’t seen anything yet.
After a lot of hollering from the Buffalo bench, Senators head coach Bryan Murray decided to calm things down by sending out his non-fighters.
“I put out three smaller players, thinking enough was enough,” Murray said on the Sabres’ YouTube channel. “Lindy and I have known each other a long time. We’ve worked together. I knew forgiving was hard. Maybe I made a mistake.”
Murray sent out a forward line of Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley, and Mike Comrie. As for Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff, he didn’t care whether Neil’s hit was legal or not—he was planning an immediate response.
“If you’re going to do that to our guy, we have to get at it,” Ruff said.
As the home team with the last change, the Sabres deployed their tough fourth line: Andrew Peters, Adam Mair, and Patrick Kaleta. According to Peters, Mair was the one who made the line change, telling his linemates, “There is no puck.”
At the drop of the puck, the Sabres trio did exactly that—ignoring the puck and going after their opponents. Those three took 46 minutes in penalties, while the Senators forwards took none, mostly just tying guys up and trying to survive. They got some help from defensemen Anton Volchenkov and Chris…