I see the Bruins play Buffalo a lot. Which Reminds me of how the only time I have ever seen them win in the playoffs was against Buffalo

In regards to the tickets I got yesterday, I was thinking about how much Buffalo Sabres I will see this year. I saw them last month at the game with Lucic running over Miller. It was a great game for the Bruins cause they won and scored 6 goals, I had pretty great seats, and had a lot of fun. 

I also have seen Buffalo definitely in the past cause it was the playoffs...2009-2010 season, when they played Buffalo in the first round and Philly in the 2nd. The Sabres game was the 3rd game of the series and it was a close series, and a close game (Buffalo scored first but Bruins won 2-1)...the single most memorable moment from perhaps any games ever was when Mark Recchi made a fucking awesome play to set up Bergeron for the go-ahead (and what would be the game-winning) goal by charging behind the net to fight for the puck, knocking the fuck over the Sabres d-man, and passing straight to Bergy. 

Random side note: Although I've grown too tolerant of them in recent years, my hatred of the Sabres was at it's highest after knocking the Bruins out of the playoffs in 1999. I hated Hasek from then on. And I loved Dallas and Brett Hull so much when they beat the Sabres in the finals, winning the CUp in OT, on a very obvious illegal goal. heh.

As it stands, I have been to 4 Bruins playoff games in my life, and the Buffalo game was the only time I saw them win; my first playoff game was April 27, 2002 Game 6 against the Canadiens. The series was tied 2-2, but the Bruins had finished 1st overall so I had high hopes and excitement! My sister, dad, and I got great center ice front row balcony seats and were so excited. Our dreams were crushed when they lost games 6 and 7 of course. When they lost game 6, I was so devastated...Montreal: robbing me of so many potential happy memories. (Although the Bruins of course could only blame themselves...and by that, I mean Byron Dafoe. One of the reasons I fell in love with Timmy so hard was cause he wasn't just great in the regular season, but he was also great in the playoffs...Dafoe and Raycroft and all previous Bruins goalies always built up our hopes and dreams, then choked in the playoffs...along with the rest of the team most of the time, to be fair.

Oh anyway, that game against Buffalo in the playoffs was what I considered to be the most fun I had ever had at a game - or anywhere else - in my life. Vladimir Sobotka fought right when t went to commercial break, so us fans at the Garden got to watch him fight while "Shipping Up to Boston" blasted. It was a friggin great game. 

That game was April 19, 2010. In May 2009, I went to game 2 in the Carolina series, paid hundreds and had AMAZING seats, only to watch the Bruins get shut out! And having just looked up the date of that game to be sure (May 6, 2009), I saw that the game-winning goal of that game was scored by...Joe Corvo. That series was also heartbreaking obviously in the way it ended (player who scored GWG in OT game 7, Scott Walker, shouldn't have even been playing in that game because of a disgusting sucker-punch against Aaron Ward in Game 6 that inexplicably went unsuspended). Furthermore, my former favorite Bruin, Samsonov, had 4 goals in that series alone.

I guess I have to say, thank you buffalo for finally providing me with an opportunity to see them win a game in the playoffs. Since that awesome Buffalo game, I've had several game experiences that I would consider just as amazing and fun as that one, but I'll always remember that...I remember hating Miller so much for being as good as Tuukka Rask and shutting the Bruins down. I had so much fun screaming "MILL-ER" when he finally gave up 2 goals...here are some videos to remind everyone of what I experienced. After going down 1-0, Dennis Wideman (!) ties it up:

I miss Vladimir Sobotka so much sometimes...he had such a great game. Here is the fight

And a post-game Vlad interview for good measure

Nothing beats the surge of an awesome play by Mark Recchi setting up Patrice Bergeron for the go-ahead goal in a tight, fun as hell playoff game. I love re-living this because I distinctly remember being very sick so almost choosing not to go, but instead I went, and at times got a little annoyed by a drunk guy behind us. Right as Recchi went into the corner on this play, the guy screamed "KILL HIM REX!!" which immediately struck me as typical drunk commentary but Rex did, indeed, "kill him", and seconds later the puck was in the back of the net. Thanks, Rex, Bergy, and drunk guy sitting behind me!

I fondly recall other parts of that Buffalo series...such as Game 4 going to Double OT and Miroslav Satan scoring the game winner, then doing the most ridiculous and awesome goal dance ever. This was also a great memory, cause I was watching with two good friends and we were so into it, trying to predict who would score the winner and just being on the edge of nervous breakdowns from the stress of double OT! And then this happened!!:

For the record, I believe that when we were taking bets on who would get the game-winner, I had either predicted Marco Sturm, who made the goal happen, or I predicted Michael Ryder while wearing a Sturm shirt. (Sarah, Caitie, if you're reading this, refresh me memory please!)

A good walk down memory lane of memories that are so great to relive even though they are now dwarfed by the greatest Cup win ever. I really wish I had gone to at least one playoff game at any point during that run last year...however, I did attend the last regular season game at home, where they won by ridiculous amounts of awesomeness. 

The year before, the final home game (which I was at, as usual) was when Matt Hunwick took the most beneficial penalty ever because the Bruins scored 3 SHG on that 1 penalty kill...and then Patrice Bergeron swept the puck off the Bruins goal line with the net empty for a delayed penalty call: