Gratton and Gilmour add zest to Sabres' attack
By Rick Anderson
March 12, 2000
The new men in town made immediate impacts in the Sabres 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders Sunday afternoon. The presence of Doug Gilmour and Chris Gratton, acquired the Friday in blockbuster trades, sparked the Sabres from the get-go. Buffalo immediately dominated play in the first period as they outshot Islanders 16-4 and should have left for the first intermission with a 3-0 lead.
Gilmour and Gratton played aggressively and both were instrumental in the first 3 Buffalo goals, getting assists. Then Gratton stole the puck late in the third period and scored into an empty net to ice the game. Between the two new Sabres, they added what has been missing for most of the season, heart and grit. Gilmour, who admitted that he was nervous before the game, was named the first star.
The Islanders who could only muster 16 shots on goal against Dominik Hasek, scored on two of them. Hasek has had to face only 33 shots the past two games and has allowed 5 goals and a .818 save percentage- definitely not your typical Dominator numbers.
The Sabres came out like gangbusters in the first period, blasting away at Kevin Weekes but could not get one past him until Jay McKee was able to blast one past Weekes. Gilmour set up the play with some fancy skating and stickwork.
"It's beautiful," Gilmour beamed. "I love stopping up and giving it to those guys late."
The Sabres rang two shots off the posts in the first period and could have easily had 3 or 4 goals, but instead the Islanders came back and tied it up on their fourth shot on goal. Dimitri Nabokov was able to get it past Hasek on a backhand at the 11:49 mark of the first period.
"Some games work that way," related McKee about not blowing the doors off the barn in the first period. "Sometimes you think you feel you should be ahead, 5-0, and you're tied. Other time you feel you should be behind, 5-0, and you're tied. . . . Today we threw everything we had at the net."
The game remained tied up until near the end of the second period when Gratton stole the puck behind Weekes and sent a pass out to Jason Woolley, pinching in to help the offense. Woolley got his wrist shot up high and over the right shoulder of Weekes to put the Sabres on top for good.
"To finally get out there and be a part of our team, it was very exciting," said Woolley after scoring for his third straight game. "You can see the way we came out and had a lot of emotion early."
Gilmour once again was instrumental in setting up the third Sabres goal in the second period. For the third straight time, a Sabres defenseman pinched in and it resulted in a goal. This time it was James Patrick who lit the lamp for Buffalo. It turned out to be the game-winner.
"It's a great feeling," elaborated Gilmour. "The biggest thing out there is we won the hockey game. We had a little fun out there, a little bit of excitement. We're close to where we want to be."
With Weekes pulled for the extra attacker, Gratton bent down to block a shot and deked around the defenseman and had a breakaway on the empty net. He had an easy shot on net, and had his first Sabres goal, even though the defenseman threw the stick to block the shot.
The Sabres have to keep their newfound intensity when they travel out west for a three game road trip, starting in San Jose on Wednesday. This road trip could help the Sabres get back into the thick of things or could just about eliminate their playoff hopes if things don't pan out well on the West Coast.
Ruff is trying to bring back the style of play that was so successful during last year's playoff run. During Sunday's game, the defensemen were constantly pinching in to keep the play going in the Islanders' zone and it resulted in Buffalo's first three goals.
"We really stressed as the last thing in our meeting that our offside defenseman get up with the play,"said Ruff. "If it went to the left winger, we wanted the right defenseman jumping. If it went to the right winger, we wanted the left winger jumping in to get up with the play. We talked about making two-on-twos into three-on-twos, and making three-on-three situations into four-on-threes. If you can beat your man back up ice, it makes it tougher on them. Our defense did a good job in that area."
The two new Sabres were thrilled about the aggressive style.
"I think it's an easy style to play," said Gratton about the defensemen pinching in to help out the offense. "For any player that comes in here and jumps right in, they'll fit in really good. It's a great style, it's an offensive style and a really fun way to play."
Gilmour played his first game for over a week as he had bruised ribs. Lindy Ruff had Gilmour play over one period in total playing time.
"I was pleasantly surprised," said Gilmour. "I had great legs and felt pretty confident and comfortable ... my legs came through for me."
"In my third shift out there, we were in the zone for two minutes ... and that was hard out there. So that's what we want to do. We want to spin off and keep them going, keep them going, try to get them tired before we do."
"We did have a lot of chances early one and I was fortunate to get two assists out there," Gilmour continued. "Right after our first goal, I had a great chance to score on the rebound, but Weekes stopped me. When we have a lot of chances like that, you're going to beat a lot of teams in this league. We have to continue that, forecheck and try to dominate down low and do the regroups properly and we're going to be O.K."
The existing Sabres seemed to have kicked up their play a couple notches with the addition of Gilmour and Gratton.
"It's a pleasure to play with guys like that, because they can really find you," Woolley talked about his new teammates. "They don't do much thinking out there. Those kind of guys just react, and they make the plays. The guys around them have to make the holes, and if you do it will be right on your stick. I think it definitely uplifts the skill level of our team, and I think it's going to make everyone better."
"Their forwards had to sag on our forwards to help protect the net," continued Woolley. "They had to be worried about the forwards cycling or walking out to the goal. When they sagged, we were able to move up on the offense. Doug is very good at creating down low and so is Chris Gratton."
Gratton, meanwhile is just excited to be with a contender again.
"It's unbelievable," Gratton said. "I was sitting in my hotel Saturday night, and for the first time all year I was watching the ticker. You're keeping an eye on the Rangers, keeping an eye on the Penguins. That's what hockey is all about."
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"You want to dominate right off the start of the game and we showed them that we were serious," Gilmour said. "It makes it harder when teams keep coming and coming after you. We wanted to set the tempo and we did that."
Doug Gilmour brought some intensity to the ice Sunday and helped the Sabres beat the Islanders. Here he chases after the puck in the crease as Isles defenseman Kenny Jonsson tries to ride him off the puck and goalie Kevin Weekes gets ready for a shot.
[AP Photo/Don Heupel]
Tim Connolly flipped the puck over Hasek, who didn't see it in the air and it landed right behind him in the crease, hit his skate and went in to put the Isles back into the game at 3-2.
The puck pops over Dominik Hasek's shoulder and plops down behind him, hitting his skate and goes into the net in one of the bloopers of the year. Dmitri Nabokov (37) gets credit for the goal.
[AP Photo/Don Heupel]
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