Do the Sabres really want it this year?
By Rick Anderson
March 5, 2000
Are the Buffalo Sabres really serious about making the playoffs this year? The way they played Saturday afternoon in Uniondale, it seems like they don't care if they miss the post season after going all the way to Game Six of the Stanley Cup finals last season.
The Sabres had a weaker opponent in their sights and a not too prominent goalie to shoot at, but failed to pull the trigger in their 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders. At this time of season, excuses are not acceptable and are downright appalling.
The New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins are moving farther in front of the Sabres after winning their games while Buffalo, Montreal and Boston all lost Saturday. The Sabres have lacked any consistency all season and time is running very short as only 16 games remain on the schedule.
There were more miscues by the Sabres against the Islanders than there are theories about what's wrong with the team. The defense had many lapses and hung Dominik Hasek out to dry on many occasions. Hasek only had to make only 21 saves while the Sabres got off 31 shots on Islanders' goalie Kevin Weekes.
The Sabres have a tendency of making an average goaltender look like the second coming of Terry Sawchuck and this game was no exception. Weekes made some excellent saves in the early going while making 29 saves. He also stopped the Sabres' top goal-getter, Miroslav Satan on a penalty shot. The victory was the Islanders first win in six games. Naturally the Sabres were generous enough to give New York the win, gift wrapped and all.
The game started off as if the Sabres were actually serious about burying their inferior opponents. Michael Peca mad a cross-ice pass to Vaclav Varada, who was skating down the right side. Varada flipped the puck into the corner and Weekes went behind the net to play it. Peca met him there and the puck was cleared right back to Varada in the right corner, who quickly passed it to Vladimir Tsyplakov right in the slot. Tsyplakov's stick was already in motion when the puck got to him and he slammed it home before Weekes had a chance to react. The goal came at the 12:15 mark of the first period and the Sabres seemed ready to roll.
The PVT Line has been the hottest Sabres' combo as of late and seems to be the only one that can generate any offense. It is also the only line combination that Sabres' coach Lindy Ruff has kept intact for the past week or so. Ruff's constant experimentation of lines even at this late date may be the reason why the other three lines are not jelling.
A little over a minute later, the Islanders answered with an almost exact duplicate of the Sabres' goal. With the Isles pressing, Jay McKee cleared the puck from behind his own net right to
Olli Jokinen in the left corner. Jokinen immediately sent the puck over to Dave Scatchard, who was alone in front of Hasek and he poked it past the dominator to tie it up 13:40 into the period.
"I like playing with Scatch because we both play a simple game," said Jokinen. "We're both big, and we go into the corners."
With around two minutes left in the period, Satan stole the puck near the Islanders' blue line and streaked in alone on Weekes. Martin Biron's brother, Mathieu swiped Satan's feet out from under him before he could get off a shot. Referee Paul Stewart immediately signaled a penalty shot. The resulting spill that Satan took shook him up and it was over a minute before he finally was able to get back on his feet to take the shot. Satan took the puck at center ice and skated in on Weekes, who came all the way out to just below the hash marks between the two faceoff circles. Satan, instead of making his usual move to the right for a backhand shot, continued to head straight towards the goal and took his shot, which went wide of the right goal post.
"It was the end of the period, and there was bad ice," contended Satan. "I said going in that I was going to shoot. I was too quick. Weekes came out to pokecheck it and I missed the net."
"It was a relief, but I've been through this before," commented Weekes. "This was only the second penalty shot of my NHL career. Paul Kariya beat me quickly and painlessly. But I spent a few years in the IHL where the shootout is used, so I just tried to recall those situations and act accordingly."
A few minutes later, the Sabres failed to keep the puck in during a power play and Jokinen had a breakaway on Hasek. Alexei Zhitnik, catching up to him, tripped him before he could shoot and referee Stewart called a very rare second penalty shot in the same game.
Jokinen did what Satan failed to do and that was to make a simple deke to Hasek's left and flip it in the open corner.
"That's the only move I have," laughed Jokinen. "I was pretty certain (Paul Stewart) would call it, especially after they got one. I talked to Kevin and he said that I knew what I had to do."
Hasek looked a little slow in getting over to the post on Jokinen's deke. One has to wonder if Hasek needs a couple days off to regain the sharpness he had during his first week back from his groin injury.
Scatchard got the fourth Islander goal when he cleanly won the faceoff from Peca in the Buffalo zone and passed it back to Ray Schultz on the left point, where he let a shot rip on Hasek. Scatchard headed right towards the net and poked the rebound past Hasek for his second of the game.
Scatchard, who lost part of a tooth when he was hit in the mouth with a shot, said, "I felt part of my tooth come out. It hurt quite a bit. When the pain went down, I went back out there. With this road trip (the Isles now go for six games on the road), I got to look like a donkey. It's not easy to find a good dentist on the road."
Just 19 seconds after Scatchard's goal, the Sabres came back and scored their second against Weekes. Peca got the puck at the outside quadrant of the left faceoff circle and threaded a pass through two New York defensemen's legs right to Tsyplakov, who snuck out in front of Weekes. Weekes blocked the first shot, but Tsyplakov poked in his own rebound to make it a two-goal game. It was also his second of the game and tenth of the season.
In the final period, the Sabres could not penetrate Weekes nor the Islanders' defense and came up short again when they desperately needed the two points.
"It's obviously disappointing,"remarked Peca. "It's a game we needed, but not only did we need the two points, we needed to see what type of response we'd get after being down two goals to the Rangers a few nights ago. And we didn't come out the way we needed to."
Lindy Ruff used the penalty shots as the excuse the Sabres failed to win.
"We didn't score on our penalty shot and they scored on theirs, and that was the difference," Ruff said after the game. "Jokinen gets one for them, and our best goal scorer didn't score on ours."
The Sabres get right back at it Sunday afternoon when they play the red hot Washington Capitals and a much better goalie in Ollie Kolzig. Buffalo will have to put forth a much better effort if they want to escape from their second losing weekend in a row.
"We never had control of the game fully until late in the third period, and obviously that's the wrong time to be in control," said McKee. "We've got to think of doing that a little earlier. We have to come out with more jump, and get them in the frame of mind that, ‘It's going to be one of those games so let's just get through this one."
"We're rapidly running out of room to make errors, or the season's going to be lost."
The Sabres once again allowed three unanswered goals in the second period (4 unanswered altogether) before Tsyplakov answered with his second.
"I don't know what happens to us in second periods," questioned Peca. "They've been a joke for us all year long. We're playing a team in an arena where we haven't played well. They always are a hardworking team. We think we'll be able to match their work ethic, but that's not automatically the case. They had more desire across the board than we did."
Ruff was very disappointed with the lost opportunity to keep pace with the Rangers and Penguins.
"We lost the draw that killed the five on three (when the Sabres had the two man advantage)," said the Sabres' perplexed coach. "Too many people were trying to do it by themselves instead of using each other. When the pressure's on, you try to do that. You have to relax and see the guys around you and make the right decisions."
Weekes came up with a stellar performance while watching Hasek at the other end flounder and give up 4 goals.
"It was surprising, but they were four good goals he gave up," insisted Weekes. "Everybody knows what he means to his team, to the league and to the game itself. People like him, Patrick Roy and Grant Fuhr don't come around very often. They've laid the groundwork for young goalies. I don't focus on him, maybe subconsciously I do. Everyone knows what an inspiration a guy like that is to the younger goalies."
"I think teams are taking us more seriously," said Islanders' coach Butch Goring. "It's an opportunity for teams to get two points. I think we're a better team than most people think."
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This game featured not one but two penalty shots, and like the final result in the game, the Sabres penalty shot was a dud. Buffalo always seems to have a difficult time getting up for the weaker teams. But at this stage in the season, there is absolutely no reason for it.
Marivsz Czerkawski dives for puck in circle to keep Michael Peca from gaining control
[AP Photo]
Instead of being down 2-1, the Isles found themselves in a tie after the first period and came out in the second rejuvenated. Putting the pressure on the Sabres, Zdeno Chara got the puck out at the left point and passed it over to Mariusz Czerkawski, who took the shot from the right faceoff circle. Hasek made the save, but Sean Haggerty stepped in between Hasek and Holland and tipped in the rebound for his first goal of the season at the 1:44 mark.
Curtis Brown and Eric Cairns race for the puck in the second period
[AP Photo]
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