ONSLAUGHT IN OTTAWA!
By Rick Anderson
Sunday, October 24, 1999

Lindy Ruff spared Martin Biron from the Onslaught in Ottawa. If Biron had been in goal against the Senators, who knows how many the Senators would have scored. The young goaltender psyche could have been damaged beyond repair. As it was, Dominik Hasek was back in goal last night as the Senators ripped apart the Sabres as if they were Jason with a knife. The Senator demolished the Sabres 4-0 in a game that could have big consequences in the Northeast Division. It could also have huge consequences in the Sabres immediate future.

Shawn McEachern does a dance after scoring on Hasek

The Sabres reverted back to their old lifeless ways last night as they left Hasek at the mercy of Senator snipers. It wasn't until the third period when the Sabres actually got some real scoring chances. The four goals were all the result of defensive lapses. Hasek, who did give up a couple of soft goals by his standards, looked at times as if he were back in his old form in the third period as he made numerous saves at point blank range and flip-flopped in true Dominik fashion. Could Biron have done any better? Not the one we saw Friday night.

We were outplayed. It's that simple," said Hasek. "We gave up two goals and it seemed like the game was over. Physically I feel good, but I know I can play better. Ottawa's proving they're a good team but we have to believe and work hard."

"There was nothing to like out there," an angry Lindy Ruff said about his team's lackluster performance. "We were poor defensively. We didn't have one guy with any jump offensively. It could have been 8-0 or 9-0."

The Senators opened the scoring three quarters through the first period and kept the Sabres on their heels the entire evening. Magnus Arvedson threw a pass to Marian Hossa who was fifteen feet in front of the net and backhanded it through Hasek's pads to open the scoring at the 15:18 mark. Less than a minute later Shawn McEachern scored when the Sabres defense was caught out to lunch and the Senators had a break. All the Sabres went to the right to cover Jason York and left McEachern all alone in front of Hasek. York took a weak shot on Hasek and the Dominator gave up a huge rebound that McEachern banged home on the open side. Hossa scored his second of the night at 9:13 of the second period. Steve Martins put the Sens up 4-0 when he poked the puck top shelf over Hasek.

In the third period, Hasek stopped the Senators dead in their tracks with spectacular save after save. The old Dominator was back, but it was too late in this contest. The damage had already been done in the first two periods.

Ottawa outshot the Sabres 35-19 and this was Buffalo's fourth loss in five contests.

"This game has nothing to do with Dominik," said Dixon Ward. "They outchanced us probably 30-4. We were lucky. It should have been 4-0 after the first period."

"I've been on enough rampages," fumed Ruff. "We have to sit down and be a little rational. We're playing three games in four nights, and five in eight nights. There are no excuses for losing, but you have to sit down and see why you played that badly."

Ron Tugnutt at the other end of the rink didn't have too many real scoring opportunities to thwart. He had to make only four stops in the first period and five in the second. It wasn't until the third that he was tested with 10 shots on goal and even then it wasn't enough to work up a sweat. In recording his 13th career shutout, Tugnutt won't have many easier games than he did in this one.

"I didn't face too much work tonight," admitted Tugnutt.

Talking about the Sabres victory on Friday, Ward said, "One game didn't mean anything. We have to put games back to back. We didn't do that."

"We can't give up on each other," said Jason Woolley. "It's the worst thing to do. You can't get out of a hole that way. We're not playing well, but I've never seen so much bad luck in my life. I really don't have an answer. The game is really hard right now. It's ten times harder than it should be."

The Sabres and Senators have been compared as very similar teams. Their uniforms and style of "workman-like play" without many superstars seems to be changing now. The Senators are on their up while the Sabres are battling to get only their second win of the season.

"I'm very pleased with the effort out there tonight." said Senators coach Jacgues Martin. "The last two games have been our best games so far this season. We have a tremendous work ethic. We just got to keep at it."

Ruff must go back to the drawing board and see what chain he can pull to get a kind of performance the Sabres put forth Friday night against Carolina. What he saw in Ottawa may cause him to lose the little amount of hair he has left.

Meanwhile, down on the farm, the Rochester Americans are tearing apart the AHL. They improved their record to 9-0 last night. With Mika Noronen in goal, the Amerks beat Cincinnati 4-1. In replacing Martin Biron, who is up with the Sabres, Noronen stopped 29 shots, 15 of which were in the third period, to up his record to 3-0. Biron may not have a job if and when he's shipped back down to Rochester. Noronen not only was the game but also got an assist on a goal by Maxim Afinogenov. He has a GAA of 1.20 and a save percentage of .957 and has only allowed four goals in 92 shots this season.

"He gains confidence with every outing. Tonight, even though we had a three or four goal lead, he made some big saves for us to help us maintain that lead," Amerks coach Brian McCutcheon said.

This is an unusual season for both the parent Sabres and their farm club. Usually if one is doing good, so is the other. This year the two teams seem to be going in opposite directions. The Amerks have their first nine game winning streak in 12 years. If the Amerks win their next two games, they will tie the AHL record for the most victories to start a season. Last night, they exploded for four goals in the first 11:48 of the first period and coasted from there.

For Sabres fans, the grass is obviously greener in their neighboring city down a stretch on the Thruway. This is something they expected the Sabres do be doing right now: Winning!

"I think when you're winning like we are, they're having a lot of fun coming to the rink every day," McCutcheon said last night.

Afinogenov began the onslaught in Cincinnati when he grabbed his own rebound at the 28 second mark. Darren Van Oene slipped a long shot into the lower right corner to give Rochester a 2-0 lead a little over three minutes later. Craig Fisher, the Amerks scoring leader, scored his eighth and ninth of the season six minutes apart to round off the Rochester scoring. Fisher also is on top of the AHL is goal getting.

"His record has shown he's a goal scorer. He's got good instincts around the net," McCutcheon said. "He's someone that the other team always has to keep an eye on, and that's going to open up opportunities for his linemates as well."

Back at the ranch, Sabres fans can only dream of the day when they will hear such complimentary words coming from their coach Lindy Ruff.

     HOME           SEASON'S RESULTS      SABRE TALK MESSAGE BOARD      NEWSROOM      99 PLAYOFFS    
THE PLAYERS      STATISTICS      SCHEDULE      PROSPECTS      LIVE GAME RADIO      HISTORY      TEAM INFO     
PHOTO GALLERY     MULTIMEDIA      SABRES POLL      TROPHY CASE      LINKS      THE STAFF      E-MAIL SABRESWORD

Copyright © 1999 Sabres Central, all rights reserved