Biron gets first shutout as Sabres down Thrashers 4-0
By Rick Anderson
Saturday, November 20, 1999

The Sabres beat the Atlanta Trashers 4-0 last night to end their three-game losing streak. Martin Biron got his first career NHL shutout and no one came over to congratulate him! The reason was simple: a fight had broken out right after the horn sounded to end the game. The game was marred with plenty of fisticuffs and it set up the rematch between the two teams for more brawls tonight.

Lindy Ruff had a difficult choice to make before the start of the game - who to start in goal? He had pulled Biron in the first period against Pittsburgh on Tuesday when he allowed three goals in a very short period of time and Dwayne Roloson had shut down the Penguins the rest of the way. The Sabres are making a long term commitment with Biron and that was the reason Ruff decided to go with his 22 year old rookie in the nets.

Ray Ferraro attempts to shoot as Miroslav Satan ties him up

"I thought Marty made a couple of key saves at key times and he deserves a shutout," Ruff said.

"It's a great feeling, looking back at the last two games," said Biron, "especially the loss at Pittsburgh. You certainly don't like to get pulled."

During the first period, the Sabres were all over the Thrashers. They outshot Atlanta 12-1, giving Biron a much easier time than he's had in the past. However, the Sabres could not get it past Scott Langkow and the period ended in a scoreless tie. There was a couple of fights in the period, with Rob Ray and Matt Johnson duked it out with Ray, who was completely overshadowed by the much bigger Johnson, getting the worst of it.

The Sabres finally opened the scoring flood gates in the second period. Seconds after the opening faceoff in the period, Afinogenov stormed in the Atlanta zone and ex-Sabre Darryl Shannon was forced to hook the Russian Rocket to prevent a shot on goal. That resulted in Buffalo's first goal on the ensuing power play when Michael Peca broke his scoring slump by scoring on a long screen shot only 57 seconds into 2nd period. Wayne Primeau went to the front of the net and plugged up the middle as Peca's shot made it through Langkow for the Peca's fifth goal of the season. Only 21 seconds later Maxim Afinogenov broke in on the Thrashers with only one defenseman back and scored a nice one on a high riser over Langkow's left shoulder into the top corner. That goal was unassisted.

Curtis Brown scored the third Sabres goal at 10:50 of the second after getting a great feed by Afinogenov behind the net. With Afinogenov battling for the puck behind the net, he somehow was able to deliver a perfect pass to Brown who was knocked to the ice immediately after shooting the puck and was flat on his stomach when the puck went past Langkow. Michal Grosek got the other assist on that goal.

With 2½ minutes left in the game, Atlanta pulled its goalie being down 3-0 and Afinogenov stole the puck at center ice and shot it into the open net to score his second of the game and fourth of the season.

The Sabres outshot Atlanta 29-18. Biron had to make only one save in the first, but had to be sharp at times when he made ten stops in the second period. Overall, the Sabres came to Biron's rescue, limiting any quality scoring chance.

"The team we were playing can make you look like that," Atlanta coach Curt Fraser said. "They are exceptionally good defensively. They've got tons of skill and speed. I thought Scotty did a great job in goal for us."

The No. 1 NHL draft pick last summer Patrik Stefan had a difficult night against the Sabres. He may have been taught a valuable lesson by a couple of Sabres who caught him skating with his head down. McKee was the first one to deck him with a major-league hit as he skated along the boards. Then on Stefan's very next shift, Richard Smehlik caught him with either his elbow or forearm right on the side of Stefan's head. The crowd became very quiet while Stefan remained on the ice for a few minutes and he had to be helped off the ice by teammates. He will have an MRI performed sometime today in Atlanta.

There was some talk after the game about Smehlik getting a possible suspension for using his elbow on Stefan, but Fraser dismissed that possibility by saying "It was not a dirty hit at all. He just caught him on the chin and it was not a dirty hit."

"I just tried to stand him up," said Smehlik afterwards. "I had just come off the bench and I had no speed. He tried to go around me and we just collided. I always keep my elbows down. I don't hit people that way."

"He knows his name, that we beat Tampa Bay the other night and who signs his paycheck," Thrasher general manager Don Waddell said.

Stefan has a history of concussions, suffering at least two while in the minors. He will not be traveling to Buffalo for tonight's game and his status was listed as day to day.

"We knew guys would take shots at him," said Fraser after the game. "We knew one of the days he would get caught. Hopefully, he will rebound from this very quickly."

After McKee hit Stefan, the Thrashers were ready to thrash McKee. Chris Tamer took off after McKee after his initial hit on Stefan, but Rhett Warrener got between the two and took on Tamer. Later on, tough guy Matt Johnson slashed McKee, pounced on him and punched him from behind. The blow landed right between the eyes.

"That's the same kind of play that ended Jeff Beukeboom's career," said McKee about when Johnson put the former Ranger out while Johnson was with the Kings. "He caught me on the side just under my eye but if I had looked up it would have been right into my eye."

The Sabres were dead determined not to lose their fourth straight game. Coming back to Buffalo after losing four in a row on the road was not acceptable for either Ruff or the players.

"We wanted four points this weekend," said Jay McKee. "We sort of let our game slip away and we want to get back on track. We talked the last couple of day about everybody playing their part on the team and playing their role. It is no secret that my role isn't to go out and get goals, it's to be physical and I'm just trying to get back to that."

This was the first solid game the Sabres have had since beating the Boston Bruins 6-2 in Buffalo over a week ago. The hitting game, which has been strangely absent in Buffalo's game, came back with a vengeance.

"We had some good chances to score goals and I thought defensively, we shut them down pretty good," Ruff said.

Ruff tinkered with his lines before the game trying to come up with a lineup that would start lighting the lamp. He teamed Afinogenov with Brown and Grosek and that change produced instant dividends. The newly formed line produced three of the four goals and should be back together for tonight's rematch.

Rhett Warrener and Chris Tamer fought twice in the game along with the Ray vs. Johnson heavy weight bout. Near the end of the game, Kelly Buchberger crashed into Biron and the Sabres goalie came back and gave Buchberger a shot. That caused a melee in the goal crease as the Sabres rushed in to protect their young goalie. All this ruckus sets the stage for a heavy-hitting rematch tonight as the two conclude their mini-series.

WATCH MAXIM SCORE HIS THIRD OF THE SEASON

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