Sabres Classics: Buffalo forces Game 7 with another dramatic overtime win

Facing elimination, the Buffalo Sabres came through with one of the most memorable games of their 2006 playoff run.

Down 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Sabres returned to HSBC Arena with their backs against the wall. They got off to a great start with J-P Dumont's opening goal 4:56 into the game, but Carolina tied things up late in the third period to force overtime.

Then co-captain Daniel Briere scored his second overtime goal of the postseason (and his eighth of the campaign) at the 4:22 mark to keep Buffalo alive.

"We just seem to find a way," co-captain Chris Drury said after the game.

The game-winning goal came on the power play, snapping Buffalo's 0-for-14 drought with the man advantage. Briere was looking to change and harmlessly flipped the puck on net. It tipped off Cam Ward's glove and in over the goal line.

Game 6 will re-air Thursday night at 8 p.m. on MSG as part of the "Sabres Classics" series. It will also be available live on the MSG Go app and the next day on NHL.com's Sabres Classic Games video channel.

The players on the 2006 team claim that when they entered the locker room to celebrate, the fans above them were cheering so loud that the arena was actually shaking.

"I remember being in that locker room after the game and I thought the building was coming down," Briere said 14 years later in "Beyond Blue and Gold: Scary Good."

"It was so loud and we stepped outside to look at what was going on and we though the building was starting to crumble. It was just the fans refusing to leave. They were all stomping and dancing and screaming. …Nobody would leave. I still have goosebumps just thinking about that."

The Sabres would now go to Raleigh for a decisive Game 7 two days later.

"I remember going home after you scored the Game 6 goal and saying, 'We're winning the Cup,'" defenseman Jay McKee said in "Scary Good." "I just remember having that feeling. We're winning the Cup."

Unfortunately, Game 6 would be McKee's last with the Sabres. He sustained a staph infection in his leg and was unable to play the next game. He signed with St. Louis in the offseason, ending his 10-year tenure with the Sabres. We'll have more on McKee's injury and what it meant to the team when Game 7 airs on "Sabres Classics" on Friday.