Sabres' rake Leafs to move into 8th spot
By Rick Anderson
April 4, 2000
Fasten your seat belts! The roller coast ride is still picking up momentum and won't let you off until sometime Sunday evening. The Buffalo Sabres continued their wild roller coaster ride on Monday when they edged past the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in a frenzied and scrappy game.
"Our lives are on the line here," Curtis Brown said. "Third game in four nights, sometimes that's not the easiest thing to do. You are not going to shut that team down too often. Through the last four weeks, the next game has always been the biggest. We are just marching down that road, knowing that we need to win every one of the games to get into the playoffs. This is just another step."
HSBC Arena was again sold out, but this time the 18,690 fans were divided almost evenly between rooting for the Sabres and the Leafs. It was like another home game for Toronto and the game opened as if both teams were going to hit double digits.
Matt Sundin, who seems to have great luck scoring against Dominik Hasek, opened the scoring at the 4:24 mark and it looked like the vaulted Maple Leaf offense was going to have its day with Hasek and the Sabres. But then, only 56 seconds later, Miroslav Satan scored his 33rd goal of the season as Doug Gilmour collected another assist as did Curtis Brown on that play.
The goals seemed to be coming in pairs as around 3 minutes after the Satan goal, Vaclav Varada made an incredible play. As he was being brought down, Varada was able to make a perfect pass to Michael Peca and the Sabres captain gunned it home for his 19th of the season 8:16 into the first period. Just 37 seconds later, the Leafs roared back when Sergei Berezin scored his 26th of the season to tie it up at 2 apiece.
Ward, who was looking the other way when it hit his skate, didn't know that he had scored his 11th of the season until he heard Joseph swear.
"I didn't see the puck go in," Ward said. "I just felt it hit my foot. I'll take those any day."
"The third goal shouldn't have counted," Toronto coach Pat Quinn protested. "Ward, it looked like he was playing goal. We had a stupid rule for about two or three years, and we'll get a stupid rule again because they won't call them."
After the explosive first period in which 5 goals were scored, the fans battling each other in the stands both physically and vocally, didn't realize that the game would turn into a scoreless, tight-checking game the rest of the way.
For the first time in Leafs history, they were denied even recording a shot on goal in the second period! The Sabres were able to get off 11 on Joseph, and quite a few came when they had the two-man advantage twice within 2 ½ minutes. But Joseph was able to prevent any further damage.
"No, I never experienced anything like that before. ... It was sad really," Leafs coach Pat Quinn admitted. "We could've played better. We had too many passengers, frankly."
Hasek had to do his best to prevent from falling asleep during that period where he didn't face any shots. It was the first time in his NHL playing career that he could have taken a magazine and read it in the crease area.
"It was a very, very important game," Hasek stressed. "I just tried to stay focused, and I was focused for all 60 minutes. "It didn't matter if they didn't have any shots, you can't relax against a team like Toronto. One goal will make the difference"
While the Leafs were held without a shot in a period for the first time in franchise history, the Sabres have shutout an opponent before in a period. Remember the Kansas City Scouts? Well, back in 1976, the Scouts were the victims of another fabulous defensive effort by the Sabres.
In the third period, the Sabres outshot Toronto 9-8, but Hasek had to be extra sharp to prevent the score from being tied again. With 6:15 remaining in the contest, Jonas Hoglund had an excellent chance to score, but Hasek made a save that most goalies could not.
"The Puck got out to me pretty fast," Hoglund recounted. "I shot it right way, but he dove. Hasek made a great save on that. I thought it was going to be a goal, for sure."
The Leafs got a great opportunity late in the game when Richard Smehlik received a tripping call with exactly 3 minutes remaining. The Leafs got great pressure on Hasek and the defensemen were flopping down all over the place blocking shots to prevent the tying goal. In the last minute, Joseph left the net for the extra attacker as the Leafs continued to intensify their pursuit of a goal that would send the game into overtime. The Sabres defense and Hasek shut the door and the Sabres had the crucial two point they needed to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Sabres are finally reaching the peak form they displayed during their playoff run last spring.
"We've got the team we want," Ward asserted. "The only doubt is getting into the playoffs. It's too bad we have to battle so hard to try to get into the playoffs because this is a great group. But that's our own fault."
"We have a huge mountain ahead of us that we have to climb," Ward continued. "Hopefully, we can do it. I know we can. I just hope that we do."
The players in the Sabres' dressing room know full well that other teams don't want to face the Sabres in the playoffs.
"If you went around this conference and asked the teams that are higher up who they didn't want to face, it would be us,"said Rhett Warrener. "We showed last year that it doesn't matter where you finish but how you play in the playoffs. We've had a struggle this season, but we're coming alive. We have a chance to send a message these last three games."
"I thought from a game standpoint, it was pure entertainment for the longest time," said Lindy Ruff in his post game conference. "It was hard-hitting. It was intense. Both teams skated well. It was a playoff-style game."
"We had a few penalties there. I did not think we had that bad of a second period, but Buffalo had a strong second and got the lead, and that was enough," Matts Sundin said. "We had our chances. I thought it was a pretty good hockey game from both teams and it could have gone either way."
"For Toronto to come in here (and beat us) takes more strength mentally," commented Curtis Brown. "We know we need to win these games. They know they're in the playoffs. We've been playing playoff hockey for three weeks. When you do that, you get into the playoffs and you're going to be ready."
When asked if he ever experienced a shotless period before, Quinn replied, "I can't recall that. Well, years ago, our Philadelphia teams would not get shots in their (periods), but that was 20-odd years ago. For a club like ours, that is supposed to be a little creative, that stinks."
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With the victory, the Sabres reclaimed the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference once again. They have 3 games remaining as do the Montreal Canadiens. The Carolina Hurricanes have just two remaining, both with the expansion Atlanta Thrashers. Buffalo can eliminate the Hurricanes if they win 2 of their three games. The Sabres can clinch the last spot by gaining 5 out of the 6 possible points in those remaining games. That will still be a monumental task considering that Buffalo has to play New Jersey and Washington on the road, while they host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.
In a frenzy of action during the third period, Dominik Hasek sprawls on his back making a snow angle motion to stop the shots as Nik Antropov attempts to retrieve the puck from the feet of James Patrick and Curtis Brown
[AP Photo/David Duprey]
The Sabres finally benefitted from the new NHL rule that allowed skates in the crease when they got a fluke goal with 4:43 left in the period. Maxim Afinogenov cycled around the net and shot the puck into the crease area. Dixon Ward was trying to get in front of goalie Curtis Joseph as 6-2 217 pound Leafs' defenseman Gerald Diduck was doing all he could to prevent that. The puck ricocheted off Ward's skate and through Joseph's legs into the net. A year ago, that goal would have been wiped out. Monday night, it was the game winner.
Leafs' goalie Curtis Joseph watches as Erik Rasmussen and Leafs' defenseman Thomas Kaberle battle for the puck during heated first period action.
[AP Photo/David Duprey]
To make matters even more boring for Hasek and the rest of the fans, there was a 10-minute delay when the players gate to the Leafs bench got stuck. The maintenance crew could not fix it, so to make it fair, they fixed the Sabres gate so they were also denied its use. The two teams played almost half a game with the gates inoperative. The players had to use their hopping over the boards skills the rest of the game.
Dominik Hasek lunges towards the puck to cover up before the Leafs' Tie Domi can convert the opportunity into a goal during the third period.
[AP Photo/David Duprey]
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