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Sabres Central

Sabres get a little retribution
By Rick Anderson
October 5, 2006

The Sabres were Party Poopers! They spoiled a perfect Stanley Cup championship party that the Carolina Hurricanes were having. The Sabres weren't invited to the pre-game ceremonies and now the Hurricanes wish they hadn't invited them to the arena at all!

The Sabres crashed the party and crashed the net. Danny Briere got the shootout winning goal and the Sabres come back to Buffalo for their home opener on Friday against the Canadians.

It may not be the kind of revenge they want, but it was sweet all the same. It wasn’t like winning Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, however the Sabres weren’t complaining after the game.

The Buffalo Sabres had to endure the long pre-game Stanley Cup banner ceremonies, but they did it from the comfort of their locker room. After they, they battled the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-2 draw during both regulation and overtime and it took a shootout goal by Danny Briere to decide this one 3-2.

"Their emotions were running high at the start," Sabres sophomore goalie Ryan Miller related. "We just sat in here during the celebration, but we could hear it. I'm just really happy with the way we competed."

The victory was a nice measure of revenge after losing in 7 games to the very same Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals last June. However, it still won’t erase the bitter memories of getting so close to going to the SCF, yet not finishing the job. The fact that the Sabres were a lot healthier than they were in June played a big part in this opening game of the 2006-07 season. The Sabres were down 4 defensemen and Tim Connolly when it matter just a little more than Wednesday night. Connolly is still bothered by post concussion syndrome and some feel that his hockey career may be finished.

They raised the banner and brought out the Cup. The Sabres stayed in their locker room during ceremonies. The Canes were quick out of the gate, but Miller was solid in goal most of the night.

The Hurricanes came out as a Category 4 in the first period, outshooting the Sabres 11-1 in the first 9 minutes of the game. However, on the Sabres second shot on goal, Jason Pominville deflected a shot by Dmitri Kalinin past Cam Ward to put the Sabres into a shocking 1-0 lead, according to the still celebrating Canes fans.

"We were lucky to escape that first 10 or 11 minutes the way we did, and I thought after that, we played pretty well," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff after the game.

A little over 4 minutes later, Miller made his only mistake of the game when he misplayed a long shot by Eric Staal that went over his right shoulder into the net to notch the game up at 1.

In the second period, the on ice officials took over the game. The Sabres were tagged with two quick penalties midway though the period and before the first one was over, Henrik Tallinder got a delayed penalty that continued the Sabres 2-man disadvantage. This time the Hurricanes took advantage of being up two players when Erik Cole flipped one over Miller’s right shoulder. On this one, Miller could not be faulted on the goal.

Three minutes later, the Sabres tied it up once again when Tallinder, stationed at the point, took a shot that deflected off the stick of Chris Drury past Ward.

"We knew that they were going to come out crazy in the first period," said Henrik Tallinder. "We were a little bit on our heels. But as long as the game went on we took over more and more."

The third period was pretty even with both teams getting off 11 shots, with both goalies performing well. The overtime was a roller coaster ride with action going up and down the ice like a basketball game. Miller made several outstanding saves to prevent the Canes fans from going home happy. He was even better in the three shots he faced in the shootout, stonewalling Ray Whitney, Staal and Cole.

Briere, the first Sabre at bat in the shootout, made a Tim Connolly-like move on Ward. He made several dekes before flipping a backhand over Ward to score the only shootout goal. Miller held off the Cane shooters to preserve the win.

"I didn't know what I would do until I got there," said Briere about his shootout goal.

Ruff was pleased with Miller’s play.

"Ryan made some good saves," lauded Ruff. "We did a good job of being in shot lanes and blocking shots and not giving up any real good opportunities. But they were a step ahead of us and had us on the run."

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