Smyth's goal is SpOILER for Hasek
By Rick Anderson
February 13, 2000

Smyth's goal is SpOILER for Hasek Ryan Smyth spoiled what the Sabres and their fans thought would be a sure victory Sunday afternoon in Marine Midland Arena. He scored the game-tying goal with a little over 8 minutes remaining in the third on a shot that Dominik Hasek would love to have back. For the third game in a row, the Buffalo Sabres went into overtime as the Sabres and Edmonton Oilers played to a 2-2 tie. They had lost Saturday's O.T. against the Flyers, and had beaten Nashville on Thursday. The Sabres move to withing two points of the eighth place Pittsburgh Penguins, who they face on Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

Dominik Hasek sprawls to make a save while Alexei Zhitnik stands in the crease to protect the open net and another Sabres clears the puck. Hasek announced on Monday that he intends to play another year.

"I was very happy," said Lindy Ruff after the game. "Playing four games in six nights, that fourth game has not been that kind to us. But overall, it was one heck of a battle."

Hasek started the game after having a day off when the Sabres played the Flyers. He made 26 saves and has proven that he can now handle at least three games a week. Hasek made numerous flip-flops in the crease and seems to be getting back to his old form without having to worry about his nagging groin problem.

Edmonton opened the scoring at the 13:28 mark of the first period when Western New York native Todd Marchant scooped up a loose puck near the red line and fed a perfect pass to Mike Grier. Grier's snap shot seemed to nick Dominik Hasek's catching glove and hit the back of the net.

Michael Peca scored his 11th goal of the season when he tipped in a shot past Oilers' goalie Tommy Salo with 18:24 gone by in the first period. Vladimir Tsyplakov fed the puck in front of the crease and Salo tried to clear it with his stick, but missed. Peca was able to tip it in past Salo to tie the game.

"I need to do whatever I can, no matter how big or how small, to win hockey games," Peca said. "It adds to my confidence level and makes me feel more a part of the outcome."

The Sabres got into penalty trouble again in this game as Maxim Afinogenov speared Roman Hamrlik and got a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct. The penalty-kill unit did an excellent job in not allowing the Oilers one shot on net during the entire five minutes, which extended into the third period.

"Killing off the five-minute major and then a couple more minors," Ruff said, "I don't think you can say enough about how hard they worked to get that point."

The Sabres took the lead 4:48 into the third when Erik Rasmussen slid the puck to Geoff Sanderson who tipped it past Salo. It was Sanderson's second goal in two games and his ninth of the season. However, the Sabres could not hold the lead as Ryan Smith notched his 20th of the season when he took a back hand shot from a bad angle along the goal line to Hasek's right. The puck got between Hasek's pad and the goal post and deflected off his skate into the net.

"I just threw it toward the net," admitted Smyth. "It was a lucky break. I was very fortunate."

Hasek was besides himself for allowing that goal.

"There's no excuse for goals like that," Hasek conveyed. "He surprised me. He made a very fast move and there was exactly a tiny space."

One could tell that the Sabres were a little upset with the tying goal.

"It wasn't much of a breakdown," Rasmussen said. "It was a lucky goal, but it comes with the game."

Smelling blood, the Oilers began to press. The Sabres got tagged with two late penalties in the third and had to rely on their penalty killing unit once again to keep the Oilers from winning their 4th game in their last five.

The Sabres, playing in their fourth game in six days, gave it all they had in their third straight overtime stanza. There was a flurry of action in front of Salo with a minute remaining in the overtime. Richard Smehlik put a backhand on the Edmonton All-Star goalie and finally Salo was able to catch a shot by Stu Barnes that was labeled for the corner. Barnes laughed and shook his head in disbelief after that save.

The Oilers then went on the attack when they came down on a 2-on-1 towards Hasek. The Dominator made one of the better saves of the game when he stopped a wrist shot by Jason Smith with only 14 seconds left on the clock.

"It's always fun to play against Hasek, you know he doesn't give up too many goals," Salo articulated about his competitor at the other end of the rink.

Both teams were exhausted after finishing their long stretch of games this week.

"Two teams that played pretty aggressively, but both teams were really tired," said Oilers' coach Kevin Lowe. "I noticed our guys were, and, obviously, that must have been the case with them."

"Probably most of the second half, we were running on fumes," conceded Peca. "They got a lucky break on that goal (by Smyth). We still battled, could have won that game in overtime."

The effort by Sanderson, who was named the first star of the game, did not go unnoticed by Ruff.

"He's working extremely hard," Ruff said. "I think he's reaping some benefits form it. He's been part of our power play and that's made it successful now. If he can maintain that, he'll be an important piece for us."

"When you get more ice time, you get a lot more confidence," added Sanderson. "I've been getting a lot more power play time these last few games. We got a couple goals on our power play - we got that going. It's all just steps towards building confidence. I'm just happy I responded with some good power plays out there and with a goal tonight."

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