Remembering the Senators/Sabres brawl on this day in 2007

The picture for the article looks pretty similar, doesn't it? Back in the 2007 playoffs, former Buffalo Sabres captain Chris Drury needed some medical attention in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Ottawa Senators. Oddly enough, it wasn't the first time we saw him in need of attention against the Sens.

What do you remember about the date of February 22nd? Aside from a birthday, it's a huge date in USA Hockey. On February 22nd, 1980, Team USA shocked the world as they beat the Soviets. As a Sabres fan, the date is also a memorable one. On this day in 2007, the Sabres were hosting the Senators.

Little did fans know it was going to be a night they would never forget. Ottawa jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to goals from Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley. Buffalo responded with three straight goals, having a 3-2 lead in the second period. That's when everything changed. Drury was skating the puck into the Sens zone when Chris Neil came out of nowhere and blindsided the Sabres captain.

The cheapshot left Drury bleeding from his head and Drew Stafford came to the aid of his captain as he and Neil got into it. Somehow, Neil was not given a penalty on the play, leaving head coach Lindy Ruff and the rest of the Sabres bench furious. Before the next shift, Ottawa head coach Bryan Murray sent out his best line which included Alfredsson, Heatley and Jason Spezza.

In response, Ruff sent out his fourth line. Those players included Andrew Peters, Adam Mair and Patrick Kaleta. The best part, Kaleta was playing in his first NHL game and he was a Buffalo native. That's when everything turned into chaos.

Next thing you know, everyone was fighting, even the goaltenders. God bless Martin Biron because he chose to go at it with Senators goaltender Ray Emery who was one of the toughest players to ever play the sport. Even the coaches went at it, the whole situation was pure insanity.

As a 10 year-old-kid, I was small. All I remember from that game was being on my Dad's shoulders and my head kept hitting the ceiling in the 200 level. Buffalo ended up winning the game in a shootout but holy smokes, what a night.

That night will always stick with me, as well as the Buffalo and Ottawa fanbase. We unfortunately lost Emery a few years ago, but he made that rivalry a fun one. While both the Sabres and Senators are not as good as they were back in 2007, hopefully, they can improve soon and renew the rivalry.