Sabres win wild one in overtime - Hasek reinjures groin
By Rick Anderson
Saturday, October 30, 1999

In a wild finish, the Buffalo Sabres came back with a spectacular 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers with a goal by Geoff Sanderson with only 5.5 ticks left on the clock in overtime. The goal capped off a startling series of events right at the end of the game along with an injury that could cost Buffalo the services of Dominik Hasek for quite some time.

Alexei Zhitnik beats Pavel Bure to the puck

This was a game that was coasting to a 1-1 tie with under a minute in regulation, when Bret Hedican shot the puck just past Dominik Hasek's right skate and inside the left post to give the Panthers a shocking 2-1 lead with only 33 seconds remaining. To make matters even worse, there was Hasek lying face down, kicking his legs in pain, just like he did last year when he hurt his groin late in the year. Official word is that Hasek reinjured his groin and will be re-examined today. He will not make the trip to Boston for tonight's game with the Bruins.

"I didn't see the puck coming," said Hasek. "I knew the guy was shooting from the top of the circles. Somebody blocked my view and I saw the puck at the last moment. I tried to stop it with my right pad, and I felt my groin pull or whatever I did."

Hasek was out and in came Martin Biron. He was in goal for only a couple seconds before racing back to the bench in favor of the extra attacker. With the sixth skater on, the Sabres kept the pressure on Florida goalie Trevor Kidd who had been outstanding the entire game. Things looked bleak as the Sabres could not get a good shot on Kidd with only a few seconds remaining in the contest. Jason Woolley fired the puck in front of the net and Vaclav Varada put a shot on net that Kidd blocked. Both Stu Barnes and Miroslav charged after the loose puck in their desperation effort to tie the game. Barnes poked the puck over goaltender Kidd's right shoulder to tie the game up with only 18 seconds remaining. The fans who stayed to see the conclusion got the treat of their lives.

"There was some confusion," Barnes said of the wild scramble in front of Kidd. " I wasn't sure if I got it. Miro thought he might have gotten it. Everybody crashed the net and I just took a whack at it," Barnes said. "We had a good effort by everybody, it was nice to get it. The way we responded with 30 seconds left, it was good. Everybody was real excited."

In the overtime stanza which featured the new 4-on-4 format, the game appeared to be heading for a 2-2 tie when Sanderson and Curtis Brown got a 2 on 1 break into the Florida zone. With Kidd prepared to handle a shot from Brown, Curtis passed back to the speeding Sanderson. The Sand Man ripped a slap shot that beat Kidd with only 5.5 seconds remaining. It was one of the most dynamic finishes ever for the Sabres as they won their second straight game and third in a row at home.

"I was near the crease when I got the pass and just redirected it in," said Sanderson about his fourth goal of the season. "We played the way we have to play. Stu's goal gave us a lift. We're playing well at home, and the way we played in the last 30 seconds was a big lift for us. We'll be going into Boston with confidence."

"He made a great shot low," said Brown. "This was huge.We needed this one badly. We hadn't been getting many breaks, but we hadn't been working very hard, either."

The game for the most part was a low-scoring affair. The Sabres dominated play in the first period outshooting the Panthers 9-3 . Buffalo got on the board first when Mike Peca led a break into the Florida zone along with Varada. Just as Peca received a check, he made a pretty backhand pass to Varada. The Sabres captain recovered from the hit and drove to the net where he got a pass back from Varada and fired it past Kidd in the open corner for his third of the season.

The Sabres continued their domination of the Panthers in the second period as they outshot 11-6. However, Mike Wilson, whom the Sabres sent packing to Florida in exchange for Rhett Warrener, started a play that evened up the score. The former Sabre that fans loved to ridicule, passed off to Ray Whitney who skated in alone on Hasek. Whitney fired a change-up pitch from the left circle that somehow fluttered over Hasek's glove for the tying score.

In the third period, Florida put the most pressure on Hasek, outshooting Buffalo 12-11. The Sabres put in their most solid effort of the season, and the dynamic comeback win should inspire them for the rest of the season. The team could not find the groove that propelled them into the Stanley Cup Finals for the first couple weeks of the season, but the way they snared victory from the jaws of defeat could be the turning point for the hockey club.

"We played really good hockey for the most part," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Defensively, we were rock solid. We limited Pavel Bure's chances and took away their ice."

"You don't see this kind of game too often," said Peca. "Of course, you don't want to be in a situation where you have to score two goals in 33 seconds. But this was our best game of the year, by far."

The big question is the Hasek's nagging groin problem. He has appeared to be struggling in every game he has played so far and one has to wonder if the groin has been bothering him all along.

"Right now, it doesn't feel good," said Hasek. "I hope I'll feel better in a day or so, but right now it's pretty painful."

Martin Biron appeared to be on more solid ground in the overtime period than he was in the game he played a week ago against Carolina. On two of his four saves in overtime, Biron displayed quick reflexes in stopping Florida from scoring and should get the nod to start tonight in Boston.

Kidd was solid in goal for Florida, stopping 30 of 33 shots. He was particularly sharp in the first period when the Sabres could have run up the score.

"We would have liked to have snuck out of here with one," said Kidd, "but it wasn't to be."

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