It was a fitting end to a night full of touching gestures, when the Bruins and Sabres both raised their sticks in appreciation to the city of Boston at the end of an emotional night. Apparently, it was a fitting tribute that came from the visitors’ side.

Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference went on the Marek vs. Wyshynski podcast Thursday afternoon with Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek and Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski, and the B’s blue-liner said it was Buffalo forward Thomas Vanek‘s idea to salute the crowd.

“You’ve gotta give all the credit to Vanek,” Ference said. “That was pretty awesome. They talked to their trainer when they got to the rink and the trainer passed on word they wanted to do that. We all thought that was ultra classy of them to go above and beyond what they already did. First class.

“That was awesome for them to think of that. That’s pretty rare that a visiting team goes out of the way to do something like that. It meant a lot to us as a team and to the fans as well.”

Ference said that it’s just one small part of the healing efforts that the Bruins hope to join in moving forward.

“It’s a long-term thing,” he said. “This isn’t an event that goes away after a couple of weeks. These are families that have had their entire lives changed. … It hits pretty close to home. You feel pretty helpless right now. But going forward we know we have a role to play in the community with just helping any way we can.”