Sabres pull the trigger but not on the ice
By Rick Anderson
March 11, 2000
It was a whirlwind day for the Buffalo Sabres. After making two blockbuster trades that brought in Doug Gilmour and Chris Gratton, the onus was on the players to finally make things happen and intensify their drive to make the playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens were in town for what was the biggest game of the year, but the Sabres still failed to come up with the effort required to defeat the surging Habs. As a result, the Canadiens walked away with a 3-2 victory in front of another sellout crowd.
Only one of the newbloods acquired Friday were able to contribute against the Canadiens.
Gratton was inserted into the lineup while Gilmour had to watch from the Sabres' suite as Grosek had not yet cleared the Chicago physical.
The team once again came out flat as the Canadiens, who have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL since January, came out and got the game's first goal halfway through the first period. Oleg Petrov got a shot on Hasek from the slot and Craig Darby picked up the rebound and put it top shelf.
The Sabres bolted out in the second period and finally played with some intensity. They blasted 15 shots on Montreal goalie Jeff Hackett. With five minutes gone in the period, Jason Woolley took a pass from Maxim Afinogenov and blasted a shot from the point that got past Hackett who was screened on the play.
Trevor Linden flipped in a pass from Zholtok to retake the lead for the Canadiens at the 12:30 mark of the second period.
The Sabres tied it up again when Gratton took a hard blast from around the left faceoff circle that made it through Hackett's pads, bounced off the left post and slid along the goal line before Afinogenov tipped it in.
"It was nice to contribute a little bit," the newly acquired Gratton said. "We will just have to build on it for next game. If you let these points slip, it gets tougher and tougher."
Going into the third period, it seemed as if the Sabres had the momentum to carry them to an important victory over their arch-rival Canadiens.
"They came really hard in the second period," Hackett maintained. "We were able to come out of that 2-2. That gave us 15 minutes to regroup."
Brian Savage wrecked the Sabres' big day when he made an amazing play to spoil the Sabres chance to tie the Canadiens in the standings.
Patrice Brisbois took a blast from in close on Hasek, who blocked it but the puck popped in the air and Savage was able to bat down the flying rebound and knock it out of midair into the net. He was parked at the top of the crease area when he swatted the puck like a fly to Hasek's dismay.
"Right place at the right time," contended Savage. "That's where I've got to go. I've been getting most (goals) all year by getting placement in front.
"Sergei Zholtok made a great play at the blue line to keep the puck in and got it down to me. I tried to go up front with it. Somehow, it got back to the point. I stayed in front. I'm not sure if I batted it out of the air, I just got hit from beyond by Woolley and just batted it in."
"I think that's the only way you can score against Hasek. I mean, usually that's the second shot that is going to go in," said Canadiens' coach Alain Vigneault.
From that point on, the Sabres could not muster any real scoring chances as Hackett kept them off the boards the rest of the way. He made 29 saves in the game and outplayed Hasek, who just cannot regain the form he had during the first week of his return to the lineup.
"It's painful," said Lindy Ruff after the game. "No kidding. You go head to head, these are the games that you have to win."
"We started off slow, but the second period, we played a great period; but the first half of the third, Montreal got the lead," Ruff continued. "We missed probably nine or 10 great opportunities. We missed the net on some and Hackett made some great saves."
The Sabres played much better than their game they won against the Bruins on Wednesday, but the Canadiens seem determined to keep their playoff run intact and scored on the few chances they had.
"You can have an all-star team in here. If they don't want to work hard and they outwork you, you're going to lose sometimes," Rasmussen commented. "Talent can't win you every game. We gave a great effort, but it wasn't enough."
The Sabres, who could have tied the Canadiens with a victory fell four points behind the Habs and are now three points from the final playoff spot. They will get Gilmour in the lineup on Sunday against the New York Islanders and have got to put a long string of victories together if they want to salvage the season.
Gilmour was given the Royal treatment by Sabres' owner John Rigas when the trade was a done deal. He was picked up in Fort Lauderdale in Adelphia's private jet and whisked into Buffalo with all the hoopla that Jim Kelly got when he signed with the Buffalo Bills back in the mid 80's. Gilmour was put in the front seat of a police car at Buffalo-Niagara International Airport and given a police escort to Marine Midland Arena, where he viewed the Sabres-Canadiens game in the company suite.
"It was pretty cool," said Gilmour about the escort to the game. When questioned if he ever received such a royal treatment and escort before, Gilmour replied, "In the front seat (of a police car)? No."
The day started with the announcement that the Sabres had made a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the wee hours of the morning where they received Chris Gratton in exchange for Wayne Primeau, Brian Holzinger and Cory Sarich. Buffalo also swapped draft choices with the Lightning, with the Sabres giving up their 3rd round this year for Tampa Bay's second round in 2001.
"Whenever it happens it's pretty shocking," said Gratton about his sudden transfer from sunny Florida to the great white north of Western New York. "Your life gets turned upside down pretty quickly. But once you find out you're getting put back in the playoff race, it's good feeling. And I'm very happy to be here.
"I've been put into a fortunate situation to come into Buffalo and be put right into the playoffs race. Hopefully, we can jump right into the thick of things and do some damage down the stretch."
Gratton made an immediate impact by setting up the Sabres second goal. He powered a shot that trickled past Hackett and Afinogenov tapped in.
"It was a huge game," said Gratton. "These points, at this time of the year, you have to gobble them up. If you let these points slip, it gets tougher and tougher. It was a tough one, but we'll come back and get two points on Sunday and build from there."
At noon Friday, the Sabres made an even bigger announcement. They had a press conference where it was announced that they acquired star centerman and Chicago Black Hawks captain Doug Gilmour for Michal Grosek. The Sabres also got J.P. Dumont, a 21 year-old prospect who has 10 goals and 8 assists for the Black Hawks. Gratton, the captain of the Lightning has 14 goals and 41 points so far this season. The big prize is Gilmour, who has been on the trading block for around a month according to Chicago GM Mike Smith. Smith indicated that the Hawks will pick up a proportion of Gilmour's salary, but left the numbers out.
Gilmour comes at a time when the Sabres are desperate for leadership in the locker room. With Michael Peca out for the remainder of the regular season, the team suddenly lost their captain and their best player for the past month.
Gilmour, who'll turn 37 right around the time when the next Stanley Cup champion will be decided, has 22 goals and 34 assists so far this year. Other teams extremely interested in his services were Toronto and the New York Rangers to name a few.
"I'm pretty excited," Gilmour expressed. "Obviously, I knew I was going somewhere, and it was just a matter of time. They're building something, and they want to get to the playoffs. I think we're going to make a good run at this. I believe this team can make it. Obviously, with Dominik in net, and if we can get some offense going, we can win some hockey games and put ourselves there."
Gilmour is ready for the challenge for him to help get the Sabres back into the playoff race.
"With 13 games left, we have to be focused each and every night and somehow pull this out and, you're right, that's why I was brought here so hopefully I can have some kind of impact," he said.
The rest of the Sabres know they have to pick up their game if they don't want to be playing golf instead of hockey come Easter.
"It's not like we're going to bring in a few guys, we're going to win and make the playoffs without having to work for it,"said Jay McKee. "It's about doing all the small things right and having the new guys contribute the way they can. We all have to pick up our games. We're not playing like we can. That's why we're not winning."
Gratton, who spent much of the day traveling to get to Buffalo, showed the kind of aggressiveness the Sabres desperately need. He made several big hits in the game and also was not afraid to shoot the puck instead of passing, like most Sabres do these days. He does admit that he'll be better the next game.
"It's going to take some time," said Gratton. "You can't expect to jump into the lineup and expect it to take right off. It's going to take a couple days of practice or a couple games to get to know everybody and feel comfortable."
Darcy Regier had been working on the trade for Gilmour for weeks.
"Obviously, these trades were made first and foremost to focus on the playoffs," commented Regier. "That's the immediate thing. Certainly, it addresses needs beyond that. We feel it's a move that helps us down the stretch, it helps us next year and it helps us in the future."
Ruff may now have the tools promised him last June by Rigas. Now he must mix and match the three new players into his starting lineup.
"We've talked about our power play for the last two years," Ruff said. "I think Dougie is going to help us out. Gratton should be able to help us out. Both those guys have played in those situations throughout their careers and made a living at it. We've addressed our needs. Hopefully, those guys will come into the forefront for us."
Vaclav Varada, who has been one of the top players for the Sabres in recent games said it best about the sudden impact the trade will have.
"My eyes almost popped out of my head," Varada declared. "It's going to be fun playing with those guys on our team. Now, it's up to us."
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With the big shakeup in the team, the question was if it would finally get the Sabres to come out and play with the desperation they need to get back into the playoff hunt. That question was answered quickly when the Sabres once again neglected to put in the effort that they showed during the playoff stretch last year that landed them in the Stanley Cup Finals against Dallas. The Sabres' parade was put to a quick screeching halt by a third period goal by Brian Savage and the goaltending of Jeff Hackett.
New kid on the block Chris Gratton (77) pounds Canadiens' captain Saku Koivu (11) against the boards
[AP Photo/Don Heupel]
"They beat us a lot the last couple of years," Hackett said. "As far as making statements, we'll just take it one game at a time. We know it is going to be hard to make the playoffs. We've got absolutely nothing accomplished. We know a lot of things can happen the last 14 games."
Oleg Petrov gets set to shoot on Dominik Hasek as Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre sprawls on the ice
[AP Photo/Don Heupel]
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