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Sabres 1, CAPITALS 1
Sabres slip into playoffs with win
WASHINGTON (AP) -- On the last day of the regular season, the Buffalo Sabres did just enough to slip into the NHL playoffs.
A 1-1 tie with the Washington Capitals on Sunday gave the defending Eastern Conference champions the eighth and final seed in the conference and eliminated the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals will have the No. 2 seed.
Needing a win or a tie to clinch a playoff berth, Buffalo took the lead on Stu Barnes' goal 2:48 into the third period. Washington's Richard Zednik tied it with 14:24 to play.
Dominik Hasek made 17 saves for the Sabres, including a super glove save on Brendan Witt in the first period. Olaf Kolzig was also solid, making 24 saves for the Caps.
The Capitals, who clinched the Southeast Division title on Saturday without taking the ice, entered the day with a chance to finish atop the conference standings for the first time in franchise history. But they needed to win and they needed the Philadelphia Flyers to lose -- and neither happened.
Washington will now renew a very familiar rivalry with the seventh-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs. The Caps and Pens met in the postseason in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1996. The Penguins won four of the five series, even though Washington won the opening game each time.
Buffalo will oppose the Flyers, who clinched the top seed with a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Barnes broke the scoreless tie with his 20th goal of the season after Chris Gratton intercepted Andrei Nikolishin's attempt to clear the puck along the boards. Gratton fed Barnes in the slot for the easy point-blank goal. Content with the tie, the Sabres did have another shot on goal the entire period.
The Capitals tied it when Zednik picked off Maxim Afinogenov's pass just outside Buffalo's blue line. Zednik skated into the offensive zone and had his slapshot deflected by Rhett Warrener, changing its direction enough to throw off Hasek. The puck flew over the goalkeeper's left shoulder for Zednik's 19th goal of the season.
Summary
NHL FINAL IN OT 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
BUFFALO 0 0 1 0 1
WASHINGTON 0 0 1 0 1 FINAL IN OT
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: NONE
2ND PRD: NONE
3RD PRD: BUF - STU BARNES 20 (CHRIS GRATTON) 2:18
WAS - RICHARD ZEDNIK 19 (UNASSISTED) 5:36
OT: NONE
POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: BUF - 0 OF 5, WAS - 0 OF 4.
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
BUF 13 9 1 2 25
WAS 6 5 3 4 18
GOALIES: BUF - DOMINIK HASEK
WAS - OLAF KOLZIG
OFFICIALS: REF - KOHARSKI, FRASER
LIN - COLLINS, RACICOT
ATT: 18,672
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