Chris Barnes, the vocalist from the heavy-metal band Six Feet Under, calls Tampa home these days, but his heart remains in his home town of Buffalo -- and with his beloved Sabres.

Chris Barnes, the vocalist from the heavy-metal band Six Feet Under, calls Tampa home these days, but his heart remains in his home town of Buffalo -- and with his beloved Sabres.

For that reason, Barnes finds himself in his Tampa house every night Buffalo plays in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, parked in front of the television or listening to the team's radio broadcast through the Internet. The whole time, he lives and dies by the fortunes of a team he has followed since his childhood days in Buffalo.

Fortunately, Six Feet Under is on hiatus before embarking a short European tour in August. The band also is working on material for a new record it hopes to start laying down this fall. But, he has enough free time to get his Sabres' fix.

So, because of that fortunate break, Barnes was home again Tuesday night as the Sabres kept their Stanley Cup Final dream alive by scratching out a 2-1 victory in overtime against Carolina at the HSBC Center to deadlock the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals at three games apiece.

"(Daniel) Briere's my new hero," Barnes says of the man that scored the game-winning goal Tuesday night. "I think I lost control of my body after that goal. It's an amazing series and it's just been so damn close it's unbelievable. It's a nerve-wracking experience and it's going to be another nerve-wracking night coming up here (on Thursday), I can tell."

The winner-take-all Game 7 is Thursday night in Raleigh with the victor advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, which begin Monday night against the Edmonton Oilers.

"I've always been waiting for the Sabres to get this close," Barnes said. "It's been almost as long a wait as for the (NFL's Buffalo) Bills."

Barnes was reluctant at points Wednesday night to discuss his love affair with the Sabres, in part because of the Bills' struggles to earn a championship, despite four trips to the Super Bowl.

"I don't want to jinx them by doing this interview," he said. "I guess it's the Buffalo curse, but hopefully it will be broken here and these guys will take it all the way. Like I said, I don't want to jinx them, but I got a really good feeling about this. This team is playing like I've never seen them play before."

That's saying something, considering the fact Barnes has actively been supporting this team for close to three decades. So, Barnes is far from a band-wagon jumper enjoying the thrilling ride this team is giving his hometown.

"I've always liked hockey," he says. "I just really like the physical part of hockey. It's a great game. And, I like how things have progressed (this year) with the game. "It's definitely a faster game and that whole shootout idea is the best thing of all the things they did."

Barnes sees many parallels between hockey fans and music fans.

Barnes can judge the game because he is always involved with it these days. At home, he goes to several Tampa Bay Lightning games a season, enjoying the season tickets of bandmate Terry Butler. On the road, games are watched on the TV or attended in person. He is always around the game and people that love it.

In Barnes' first band, Cannibal Corpse, watching hockey was a group activity. In his latest side project, contributing to Finnish hard rockers, Torture Killer, he collaborates with a Finnish hockey fanatic. The president of his record label, Brian Slagel, is as big a hockey nut as Barnes himself.

Barnes, considered by many to be the grandfather of death metal says the love of hockey and the love of hard-driving music often go hand-in-hand. They certainly did for him.

"It's all about aggressiveness and getting the job done in both cases," he says. "That's what the music is about at my level. The (hockey) crowds are very energetic and they get behind their team and I have a good team with my music. The fans are passionate about the game and our fans are very passionate about the music that we make."

So, will Barnes find himself back in Buffalo for next week's Stanley Cup games if Buffalo pulls it out Thursday night?

"That would be really nice," he says. "I haven't been to the new Aud yet, but I have great memories of the old Aud. That's where I saw my first concert, as well. Kiss in 1980."

Yet, even if the Sabres lose Game 7, Barnes will still be behind his team.

"That's the thing about Buffalo," he says. "No matter what happens, this city is always behind that Team. That's just the way it is in Buffalo."