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SABRES 8, Maple Leafs 1
Sabres slice up the Leafs
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Curtis Joseph didn't feel the moderate earthquake that rattled western New York and southern Ontario.
But the Toronto goalie got his own version of an aftershock later on Saturday when the Sabres routed the Maple Leafs 8-1.
Eric Rasmussen, Maxim Afinogenov and Stu Barnes each scored twice for Buffalo, which had struggled since losing to the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup finals.
"They did a lot of good things out there, got a lot of bodies in front of the net and created a lot of two-on-ones," said Joseph, whose team suffered its largest margin of defeat since an 8-1 loss to Detroit in December 1997. "They didn't look to me like a team that hadn't been playing well."
Wayne Primeau and Michael Peca added goals, Curtis Brown had four assists for a career high in points, and Martin Biron made 17 saves as Buffalo outshot Toronto 35-18.
"The heat wasn't on me tonight," said Biron, a rookie, playing in place of injured Dominik Hasek. "We got some great bounces."
Buffalo had its highest goal total since an 8-3 victory in Montreal in March 1993 and recorded its first New Year's Day win after a string of four losses and a tie stretching to 1971.
Mats Sundin scored for the Eastern Conference-leading Maple Leafs, who were beaten by the Sabres in last season's semifinals.
"It was a bad game all around," Sundin said. "You could tell we weren't ready to play."
The teams play again Monday night in Toronto.
"You expect some off games, but nothing like that," Leafs coach Pat Quinn said.
It was the most goals allowed by the Maple Leafs this season, and the six goals through two periods matched the most allowed by Joseph in a game in his two years with Toronto. It also was the most goals allowed by the Leafs since an 8-5 loss to San Jose last March.
"The first one he didn't see because it was a screen shot," Rasmussen said. "The second one was a great play, so there's two shots and two goals. When that happens to a goalie, he starts to ask questions."
Joseph went into the game with a 1.98 goals-against average and 92.8 save percentage. He faced 25 shots and made 19 saves before Quinn replaced him with Glenn Healy to start the third.
Healy allowed two goals on 10 shots.
"We let our goalies down," said Toronto defenseman Bryan Berard, who was minus-5 in the game. "It was embarrassing."
Buffalo scored twice in a 1:06 span in the first period as the Sabres rebounded from a 7-2 loss to Detroit on Tuesday night.
Rasmussen scored on Buffalo's first shift just 48 seconds into the game with a floating wrist shot from between the top of the circles. Primeau scored at 1:54 off Miroslav Satan's pass from behind the net.
Steve Thomas backhanded a pass from behind the net to Sundin for the Maple Leafs' 10th power-play goal in nine games.
Rasmussen scored his second goal with 3:12 left in the first period, tipping a blast from Peca under Joseph's glove.
Buffalo started the second with another pair of quick goals, the first on a one-timer by Peca at 57 seconds.
Primeau jarred the puck loose with a fierce forecheck on Berard behind the net and fed Afinogenov for an easy goal and a 5-1 lead at 1:53.
Afinogenov's 10th of the season with 1:06 left in the second moved him into a tie for the rookie goal-scoring lead with the New York Rangers' Michael York. Barnes added two third-period goals, the first at 2:38 and the second on a power play at 6:00.
Primeau injured his left thigh in the first period and did not return. Buffalo defenseman Rhett Warrener left the game in the second because of a strained hip muscle.
Buffalo's Rob Ray drew a misconduct after Toronto's Tie Domi pushed Ray's helmet down over his face, and Ray turned and smacked Domi in the face with five minutes to play. Domi drew his own misconduct seconds later when he punched Peca.
Summary
NHL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
TORONTO 1 0 0 1
BUFFALO 3 3 2 8 FINAL
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: BUF - ERIK RASMUSSEN 5 (CURTIS BROWN) 0:48
BUF - WAYNE PRIMEAU 5 (MIROSLAV SATAN, GEOFF SANDERSON) 1:54
TOR - (PP) MATS SUNDIN 16 (STEVE THOMAS, BRYAN BERARD) 10:39
BUF - ERIK RASMUSSEN 6 (MICHAEL PECA, CURTIS BROWN) 16:48
2ND PRD: BUF - MICHAEL PECA 6 (CURTIS BROWN) 0:57
BUF - MAXIM AFINOGENOV 9 (WAYNE PRIMEAU) 1:53
BUF - MAXIM AFINOGENOV 10 (CURTIS BROWN) 18:54
3RD PRD: BUF - STU BARNES 8 (MAXIM AFINOGENOV, GEOFF SANDERSON) 2:38
BUF - (PP) STU BARNES 9 (MIROSLAV SATAN, JASON WOOLLEY) 6:00
POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: TOR - 1 OF 5, BUF - 1 OF 2.
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
TOR 6 8 4 18
BUF 11 14 10 35
GOALIES: TOR - CURTIS JOSEPH, GLENN HEALY(3RD)
BUF - MARTIN BIRON
OFFICIALS: REF - OHALLORAN, MAROUELLI
LIN - AMELL, G DEVORSKI
ATT: 18,690
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