Hurricanes cause havoc in Buffalo
By Rick Anderson
April 1, 2000
The Carolina Hurricanes ripped through Buffalo Friday night and wrecked havoc to the Buffalo Sabres' playoff hopes by beating them in their own rink 3-1. The Hurricanes caused so much damage to Buffalo's chances of making the final playoff berth that the Sabres may have to win the remainder of their games in order to avoid having an early start of their golfing season.
The Sabres came out like they were sleep-skating and continued that way for most of the night. They only mustered 20 shots on goal, 7 in the first and the same in the second period, then dropped down to six shots on goal in the final period. For a team that's in a desperate battle to make the playoffs, this low number of shots and the intensity level they displayed is intolerable. With only five games remaining, the Sabres may have to win all of them to qualify for the post season.
"We are in a situation where we probably have to win all of our games," said Sabres' coach Lindy Ruff .
As for the Hurricanes, they leap-frogged over the Sabres into the eighth spot and have a much easier schedule in their four remaining games. Their fate is in their own hands, unlike the Sabres'.
"It was our biggest test of the year," asserted Hurricanes' coach Paul Maurice. "I think the guys decided that they were going to win before the game. We had a big game of guys blocking shots, sticks in the face, putting it at the net, and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed standing behind the bench and watching those guys work that hard. It was great."
"If we didn't win tonight, that was it," continued Maurice. "I can't tell you how much I enjoyed standing behind the bench and watching those guys work hard. It was great."
With the Hurricanes playing Philadelphia and Pittsburgh before closing with a home-and-home series with Atlanta, they have the softest schedule of the three teams vying for the final playoff spot.
"We've got to win at least three of the four. We may have to win all four, I don't know," commented Maurice.
Meanwhile, the Sabres find themselves behind the eight ball. They have to reverse their lackluster play immediately Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens if they want any chance to get into the post season.
"I don't know how much you can worry about tonight, it's over with," said Jason Woolley. "We've got a huge game tomorrow night against Montreal. We know it's going to be a real tough one, but we've got to come out and play a smart road game. We've got to go for it, man. There's no time to hold back or play conservative - we've got to be aggressive and go after these guys."
Aggressive was not the style the Sabres played Friday night. The Hurricanes wanted this game much more than the Sabres and the end result proved that.
After a scoreless first period, the Sabres actually had the lead in this game. Rhett Warrener took a shot that Vaclav Varada tipped past Arturs Irbe only 32 seconds into 2nd period to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead. A little over 11 minutes later, the Hurricanes took advantage of a miscue from Dominik Hasek to tie it up. Bates Battaglia took a shot from the far side of the right faceoff circle that Hasek stopped. However, he could not cover the puck and left a huge rebound for Paul Ranheim, who had an open net for an easy goal.
"It was bad, I should have had that one," Hasek commented about giving up the big rebound
In the third period, things went from bad to worse for the Sabres.
It actually started with 8 seconds remaining in the second period. James Patrick got called for high sticking and the Sabres started off the final stanza with him in the penalty box for 1 minute and 52 seconds. That was the first of three high sticking calls that referees Dennis LaRue and Bill McCreary called on Buffalo. Vladimir Tsyplakov got called at the 5:58 mark and Dixon Ward had to go to the box at 8:11 of the third period. The Sabres penalty kill unit did a good job of killing off those penalties.
Varada, who was called for interference when a call could have been made the other way. That came almost 11 minutes into the period and was the back-breaker as far as the Sabres were concerned.
"It's definitely a big goal for our hockey club," and elated Coffey remarked. "To be honest, I think if we lose tonight, we're pretty much done. ... It gives us some confidence now and hopefully we can keep it going."
"Maybe I'm just a throwback player, but I believe in putting the puck on the net," Coffey said. "Cycling the puck is good, but it can be bad too. It's good if you've got a lead, bad if you need to score."
The second all-time among NHL defenseman with 394 goals, Coffey knew the Hurricanes had to bounce back big from their loss in Raleigh Monday night.
"It was a big win for us. These guys pretty much handed it to us Monday night," Coffey remarked about the Sabres 5-1 win in Carolina. "We were pretty down after that game."
The Hurricanes added an empty net score when Sean Hill netted an unassisted goal with 5 seconds remaining, and the Sabres' playoff hopes were suddenly on thin ice.
On Friday night, the team with the biggest desire came up with the two points and took over possession of first place. Now on the brink of elimination, Ruff must get the Sabres better prepared to play with intensity for the remainder of the season. If the Sabres don't play desperation hockey from here on out, they'll be swinging golf clubs instead of hockey sticks come April 10th.
There seems to be a difference of opinion about Coffey's goal between Hasek and Ruff.
Hasek claims that he was interfered with by Gary Roberts.
"He hit my stick, he was in the crease before the puck was there, it was interference," Hasek argued.
"The first one was my mistake, I should have stopped the shot," Hasek said about Ranheim's goal in the second period . "The puck fell from my glove. The guy got the rebound."
"On the second there was a player that interfered with me. It was interference. It was bad luck."
"The first one snuck away from him," Ruff came back. "The second tipped his stick and went into the top corner. That shot normally doesn't go in. You can't criticize your penalty killing when a shot like that goes in."
Varada who scored the lone Buffalo goal, also took the penalty that cost the Sabres the game.
"It was a big goal for us but we didn't change our game," Varada talked about the shot he deflected into the net. "We tried hanging on to them."
Varada was upset about the penalty he got.
"I don't think that my penalty should even be a penalty," Varada protested. "It was a tough call, but we didn't play the whole game." He said the Sabres came out flat and seemed tired.
Irbe, who was solid in goal while he made 19 saves, was especially elated about the big win.
"This is my first win in the NHL over Hasek, and it was big," said Irbe. "I had beaten him before in the World Championships. I just tried to remember those good times, and then I said, 'Why not tonight?' "
"We had to keep their chances down because they are a very explosive team with speed upfront, plus they have Dom in the net," commented Irbe. "I thought a shutout might be necessary just to get the win because it's hard to score on Dom. They don't get any bigger than tonight."
The Hurricanes coach, Maurice was obviously happy with the win.
"After Monday night, most people seemed to be kicking sand on us," said Maurice. "But we're back in a position where we can control our own destiny as far as the playoff race is concerned."
The two referees, Dennis LaRue and Bill McCreary, had to hear numerous boos for their sloppy officiating in the game. It was bad on both sides, but the Sabres were tagged 8 times compared to Carolina's 4 penalties.
"It's tough, obviously it took a lot of our players out of the game, because you just spent the better part of six or seven minutes killing penalties," said Ruff. "It was an opportunity for them to gain a little momentum. We can not (take that many penalties). We played real well in Carolina, we were disciplined."
Ruff took a penalty when he refused to send his players to the ice after Hill's empty net goal.
"It's just unlucky," Jason Woolley said. "When they string three (power-play) opportunities together, it's a little unusual. But we don't want to use that as an excuse."
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The Sabres, who beat the ‘Canes 5-1 on Monday in Raleigh, came out flat in a game that they had to win to stay competitive in the wild race for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. With Pittsburgh, Carolina and Montreal winning since that game on Monday, the Sabres had to win to keep pace. That they did not do and their flat effort opens the door to speculation about what it takes to motivate this team.
Hasek makes backwards sprawling save on shot by Jeff O'Niell. Rhett Warrener gets ready to take away the rebound.
[AP Photo/Don Heupel]
Paul Coffee snuck in with the puck through the left faceoff circle. He skated in front of Hasek, using Richard Smehlik as a screen and flipped a shot that hit Hasek's stick and popped up in the air and behind Hasek into the net. That goal was the ultimate game winner and came with 7:34 remaining in the period.
James Patrick pokes the puck from Martin Gelinas behind the Sabres net in the first period of Buffalo's 3-1 loss to the Hurricanes.
[AP Photo/Don Heupel]
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