The biggest save in Buffalo Tuesday night came before puck drop.
While Sabres anthem singer Cami Clune was performing “O Canada” before Game 5 of the Sabres-Bruins series, her microphone kept cutting out.
No matter, as the crowd picked Clune up amid the technical difficulties and belted out the anthem in a heartwarming scene.
“What a crazy but cool moment!! Thank you all for singing along,” Clune, a finalist on Season 19 of “The Voice,” wrote on Instagram.
“We have the best fans ever!” she added in a separate message.
With Buffalo situated right near the Canadian border, the Canadian national anthem is always sung before Sabres games in addition to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” even if the visiting team is not based in Canada.
“And this is the sole reason I know the Canadian national anthem by 🫶🏼,” tennis star Jessica Pegula, the daughter of Sabres owner Terry Pegula, wrote on X in response to video of the moment, using a heart-hands emoji to indicate she knows the song by heart.
Sabres fans have finally had something to cheer about this season as they snapped a 14-year playoff drought, winning 50 games en route to an Atlantic Division title.
Things did not go their way Tuesday night with a chance to advance, however, as they fell to the Bruins 2-1 in overtime. Buffalo leads the first-round series 3-2 with Game 6 set for Friday night in Boston.
Rasmus Dahlin’s power-play goal 3:35 into the first period gave the Sabres 1-0 lead. Elias Lindholm tied it for the Bruins in the second period.
David Pastrnak scored the winner 9:14 into overtime to keep Boston’s season alive.
Buffalo hasn’t won a playoff series in 19 years. They reached their second consecutive Eastern Conference Final in 2007 after defeating the Islanders and Rangers in the first and second rounds, respectively, before losing to the Senators in five games.
