SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Hockey
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
COLUMNS
NHL
The Teams
Full Schedule
Monthly Schedule
Standings
Statistics
Rosters
Injury list
Movement
Trades
Hits Gallery
INTERACTIVE
JUNIOR
MORE HOCKEY
ALSO ON SLAM!
SABRES 2, Lightning 1
Sabres lull Lightning to sleep
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Martin Biron showed why he may be just the guy to replace Dominik Hasek.
The Buffalo Sabres rookie goaltender made 21 saves and Miroslav Satan and Michael Peca scored second-period goals to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.
"Biron played a spectacular game," said Lightning coach Steve Ludzik. "He made some big saves."
"He looked pretty sound," said Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff. "He had little bit of a bad break on the goal that went in."
Biron may surrender his top spot soon, as the injured Hasek will practice with the Sabres for a limited time Wednesday morning. It will be his first participation in a team practice since suffering a groin injury October 29.
Buffalo snapped a three-game losing streak as well as a three-game home losing skid. The Sabres remain 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, but moved within four points of Boston for eighth place and the final playoff seeding.
Darcy Tucker spoiled Biron's shutout bid 90 seconds into the third period. Dan Cloutier, who gave up eight goals Monday night at Washington, had 22 saves for Tampa Bay, losers of six straight and 1-16-2 since mid-December.
Satan opened the scoring with 8:01 remaining in the second period. He scooped up a loose puck behind the net and guided it into an empty net for his club-high 24th goal of the season. Cloutier misread the rebound on a shot by Cory Sarich and was caught on the wrong side of the goal.
Peca then scored his eighth goal of the season, poking home a rebound after Cloutier made the stop on Eric Rasmussen's slapshot.
On Tucker's goal, Chris Gratton made a nice pass from behind the net, and Tucker scored his 13th goal with a shot through Biron's glove.
Tampa Bay outshot Buffalo 8-5 in the third period and generally had the better chances.
"We didn't want to make too many plays after it was 2-1," said Ruff. "We've played better games and lost."
"We didn't give them too much room," said Biron. "They had to work for everything they were going to get. Defensively we played a great game."
Summary
-----------------------------
Tampa Bay 0 0 1--1
Buffalo 0 2 0--2
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Brown, Buf (Ob holding the
stick), 3:05; Sillinger, T.B. (hooking), 8:03; Tucker, T.B. (Ob holding
the stick), 11:17; R Warrener, Buf (Obstr hooking), 15:24.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Buffalo, Satan 24 (Sarich, B Holzinger),
11:59. 2, Buffalo, Peca 8 (Rasmussen, D Ward), 14:36. Penalties: Drulia,
T.B. (Obstr tripping), 3:32; Herbers, T.B. (roughing), 4:35; Ja Cullimore,
T.B. (Obstr holding), 11:29; Rasmussen, Buf (Diving), 11:29; S Barnes, Buf
(Delay of game), 17:33.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Tampa Bay, Tucker 13 (Gratton, Drulia),
1:30. Penalties: Muir, T.B. (Obstr holding), 1:50.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Tampa Bay 4 10 8--22
Buffalo 7 12 5--24
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Tam - 0 of 3, Buf - 0 of 5. Goalies: Tampa Bay,
D Cloutier (24 shots, 22 saves; record: 7-20-2), Hodson (17:04 of 3rd
period, 0, 0), D Cloutier (17:22 of 3rd period). Buffalo, Biron (22, 21;
record: 17-13-2). A:17,429. Referees: Kimmerly, Joannette. Linesmen: G
Devorski, Kovachik.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Tampa Bay Buffalo
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Drulia 0 1 +1 0 Afinogenov 0 0 even 1
Gardiner 0 0 -1 1 B Holzinger 0 1 +1 3
Gratton 0 1 +1 6 Brown 0 0 even 3
Guolla 0 0 even 0 D Ward 0 1 even 0
Herbers 0 0 even 0 Grosek 0 0 even 1
Ja Cullimore 0 0 even 0 Mckee 0 0 +1 1
Kubina 0 0 -1 2 Peca 1 0 even 2
Lecavalier 0 0 even 3 R Warrener 0 0 +1 1
Mcalpine 0 0 even 0 Rasmussen 0 1 even 1
Modin 0 0 even 2 Ray 0 0 even 0
Muir 0 0 even 0 S Barnes 0 0 even 1
R Petrovicky 0 0 even 1 Sanderson 0 0 even 1
S Martins 0 0 -1 1 Sarich 0 1 +1 0
Sillinger 0 0 -1 2 Satan 1 0 +1 4
Svejkovsky 0 0 -1 2 Smehlik 0 0 -1 0
Svoboda 0 0 -1 0 Tsyplakov 0 0 even 0
Tucker 1 0 +1 2 Woolley 0 0 +1 1
Warriner 0 0 -1 0 Zhitnik 0 0 -1 4
P Mara Healthy Hasek Groin
Kesa Groin Patrick Healthy
Ekman Healthy Taylor Healthy
Zyuzin Healthy Primeau Hip Injury
Varada Ear Injury
 Bert's back on blades Blue Jays boot game Bombers drop Peterson Felicien rebuilds race | Visit our Polls Archive |