Thursday night, after a Chris Neil hit knocked Chris Drury woozy and bleeding on the ice, the Sabres responded immediately and heartily stuck up for their co-captain, although admittedly some of it was brought on by an emotional reaction from their Jack Adams award winning head coach.
"It doesn't matter who it is on our team," said Peters when asked about his group responding to Drury being slammed in the head. "If you take liberties like that against any of our guys then you're going to have problems to deal with."
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff unfortunately let his emotions get the best of him when he sent out Peters, Mair, and Patrick Kaleta - not exactly the forward line of choice to send over the boards when Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley are already on the ice, especially in a one goal game with the outcome still in doubt.
In past seasons, with Buffalo fighting to make the playoffs when every point really counted, Ruff has been known to be more subdued in similar situations. The cushion in the standings must have played a part in his thought process before choosing to goon it up. He should be criticized for not picking his spot more selectively.
While it's true that there were better ways the situation could have been handled, it's also obvious that the Sabres are as tight knit a group as ever, and aren't willing to sit back unresponsively when they feel they're being pushed around.
Goaltender Martin Biron, who may have just ended his Sabres career in style with his ejection after fighting Ray Emery, didn't exactly mince words when describing what led to the brawl.
"I saw the hit and that it was late, and when you put two plus two together with Neil and a late hit you know it has to be dirty," Biron said.
Other than perhaps Heatley and Daniel Briere, who played on the same team and same line during the lockout, there is not much more than genuine dislike going on between these two clubs. And it's not just the players.
After Thursday's game, Mair went to the Senators locker room entrance to apologize to Heatley for a hard hit, but ended up in a verbal tussle with Sens assistant coach John Paddock.
With the loss of Drury, the Sabres have yet another injury to deal with, and also another character test on Saturday at the Corel Centre. Senators coach Brian Murray has already warned that if the league doesn't take care of things then his club will.
Translation - welcome to the lineup, Brian McGratton.
McGratton may be the toughest and most skilled fighter the Sabres will face this season. It will be interesting to see how they react when McGratton and Neil start throwing their weight around with their home crowd behind them. Also consider that the Sabres will have some young players in the lineup, particularly Kaleta, who will have perfect opportunities to make names for themselves.
This is one you might not want to miss.
