Trembling Sabres Fans

Dominator

Buffalo Sabres v Philadelphia Flyers, April 14, 2001


Core States Center, Sec 216 Row 10

We already moved out the Philadelphia area.  I think I already dumped my season ticket plan that I held onto for a few years after moving.  My oldest boy was with me.  We had a great time during with the pregame festivities that surrounded the Core States Center.  He got his hair sprayed orange and a Flyers logo painted on his face.  This was his first taste of playoff hockey, when the stakes are much higher.

We were in the crappy seats (most upper level at the Big House suck) up high.  Behind us were 3 loud mouth drunks from Buffalo.  One was body builder huge.  It didn't take long for the entire section to turn on them.  There was no fighting or things thrown but after a few periods of abuse, 2 sleeked off in shame.  Lou Ferrigno decided to stay around but he sat slumped most of the time trying not to draw attention to himself any longer.
Surely the young boy learned some new words that day.

The Flyers already won Game 1 of the series to set up this afternoon matinee.  In typical big game fashion, a Philadelphia team chokes early at home.  With only 1:28 into the contest, the Sabres Miroslav Satan put the visitors up 1-0.  Don Audette followed shortly at the 2:18 mark to silence the temporarily boisterous crowd to a peep.  Thankfully Daymond Langkow, set up from Rick Tocchett and John LeClair, cut the deficit late in the 1st.

The home team shot out of the locker room in the 2nd with a quick Simon Gagne goal in the first minute of action.  The house was alive again..  The former Broad Street Bullies were able to rattle future HOF goaltender Dominik Hasek and goatted him into an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The penalty did little to rattle Hasek however. Buffalo's Chris Gratton scored the go ahead goal in the 2nd.   

In the 3nd, with the Flyers Chris Terrien in the box for a cross check, Dan McGillis scored a short handed goal to tie the game at 2-2.  The next 9 minutes of regulation saw the game scoreless sending the contest into sudden death OT.

The Flyers were able to put 4 shots on Hasek in OT but Buffalo's Curtis Brown was the first to light the lamp on a soft goal past Roman Cechmanek.  I remember walking down the emergency stairs exit deflated.