Sabres Still Winless after Four Games
The defending Eastern Conference champion Buffalo Sabres remain winless after four games. Despite an improved effort last night against the Phoenix Coyotes, the two teams ended in a 2-2 deadlock. The Sabres up 2-1, had only 4.6 seconds left to clear the puck and win the game. However, fate decided that was not about to happen.
Travis Green, skating into the Buffalo corner to the right of Dominik Hasek, had to shoot something at the goalie with only a couple ticks left in the game. He dished out the puck towards the net. The puck ricocheted off Alexei Zhitnik's skate and zipped in-between Hasek's pads for the tying goal. The Sabres and coach Lindy Ruff could not believe it. So close yet still winless!
"I didn't even feel it hit my skate," Zhitnik said afterwards. "I was like, 'OK, here we go again.' We can't catch a break."
Hasek has not been too dominating so far this season. He was pulled half-way through the second period against the expansion Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday after allowing 4 goals. The game before, he allowed a couple of very soft goals against the Washington Capitals. Could it be his late start because of his hernia operation? Or could that upcoming retirement be planting thoughts like: "Let's get this season over with so I can get on with the rest of my life"? Whatever it is, Hasek is not playing up to his high standards.
In last night's game, the Dominator looked a little sharper and has his reflexes, but something still seems to be missing. Is it his intensity? I just can't seem to put a finger on Dominik's problem, but he seems to be fighting the puck and maybe the flow of the game.
On the first Coyote goal, Hasek gave up a huge rebound that Greg Adams pounced on and scored. In overtime, there was a loud "clank" off the goalpost that was a result of Deron Quint's hard shot that almost won the game for Phoenix.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with him," Lindy Ruff tried to reassure the reporters in the post game press conference last night. "I don't think he's on the top of his game, but I don't think there's anything wrong with him."
The Sabres opened the scoring when Geoff Sanderson fed a perfect pass to Brian Holzinger as he crossed the blue line. The "Zinger" then flipped it over to Stu Barnes who was skating in all alone towards Phoenix goalie Bob Essensa. Barnes made a perfect shot that hit the back of the net for the game's first goal.
In a sign of things to come, Greg Adams tied the game up for the Coyotes when he scored past Hasek with only 16 seconds remaining in the second period.
In the third period, the Sabres took the lead again when Brown hit Michael Grosek with a perfect pass as he crossed the blue line. Grosek skated it in and shot a one-timer by Essansa. From that point until 5 second remaining, it looked as if the Sabres finally had their first win of the young season. However, it was not to be the case.
The teams played a scoreless overtime and both went to bed with a point.
For the first time since last winter, the Sabres did not sellout. Most of the blame goes to competing with Monday Night Football and the Boston-Cleveland AL playoff game. The announced crowd was 14,341, but it looked more like 11,500 at the game. Ruff blamed both the lack of audience and the team's play in two short sentences:
"There was no atmosphere. There was no intensity," a glum Ruff said.
The Sabres next game is this Saturday against Montreal.
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