The Buffalo Sabres' season ended in heartbreak Monday night as they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in overtime of Game 7.
Yet, even in the immediate aftermath of the crushing defeat, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff reflected positively on his team's season.
"This was a giant step for us, a giant step for all the players to really get a feel (for) what it's really like to be proud of being a Buffalo Sabre, to be proud of playing here," Ruff said postgame.
The veteran bench boss, who's in his 17th season as the club's head coach, also applauded the fans for their support.
"I'm so proud of our fans. And I know that this hurts them as much as it hurts us," Ruff said. "The energy around our team, around the city, in this building, outside the building, this was the first time our players got to experience something like this. I couldn't be more proud of the way our city represented themselves."
The Sabres, the seventh-youngest team in the league, ended a 14-year postseason drought. While Alex Tuch is a pending unrestricted free agent, each member of the club's core - Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, Josh Doan, and Owen Power - is signed through at least 2030.
Dahlin, who put together a tremendous first postseason with 14 points in 13 games, was too upset by the loss to characterize it the way Ruff did.
"It f---ing sucks," the captain told reporters postgame.
Thompson said the loss carries extra pain because he felt like the Sabres deserved to win. Buffalo outshot Montreal 39-25 in the decisive contest.
"I think everyone in here felt like this was going to end different and probably felt like we deserved a little better outcome," he said. "That's the way it goes sometimes. Just gotta unfortunately take that taste with us into the summer and do something about it."
