|
[ issues | nhl archive | home | mailing list | about us | search | comments ]
|
|
Leaf Pile, 6-3 by Michael Dell, Editor-in-Chief Dominik Hasek didn't play Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals. Dwayne Roloson did. The Toronto Maple Leafs won Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. After failing to cash in on the Dominator missing Game One with a sore groin, and by the way I think we all know how painful that can be, the Leafs evened their series with the Sabres at a game apiece by posting a 6-3 victory in Game Two behind goals from Steve Sullivan, Sylvain Cote, Sergei Berezin, Yanic Perreault, Steve Thomas, and Garry Valk. The Leaf shooters beat Roloson five times on 27 shots, with Valk's goal coming courtesy of an empty net with thirty seconds left in regulation. While that .815 save percentage may not sound very impressive, hell, it kind of blows, Roloson really wasn't that awful. I mean, he was still Dwayne Roloson, so that's never good, but he did make his share of big saves. The Leafs pretty much controlled this game from the start. Only a pair of third-period power-play goals by the Sabres made things close. Buffalo did have a chance to grab a 1-0 lead early in the first period when Stu Barnes split Bryan Berard and Alexander Karpovtsev at the Toronto stripe and busted in one-on-one against Curtis Joseph. Barnes appeared somewhat disoriented, perhaps waiting for Jaromir Jagr or Ron Francis to help finish the play, and pulled the puck to his forehand and lifted a shot into Joseph's chest. That's still a huge save. Aw, but that's just CuJo being CuJo.
The Leafs made the save count, getting a goal of their own by Steve Sullivan at 10:28 to make the home fans at Not Maple Leaf Gardens all giddy. Toronto was buzzing around the Sabre zone like chimps. Mike Johnson flicked a backhander from the slot that Roloson denied but his teammates couldn't clear. The puck came to Daniil Markov out high near the left point and he hammered a shot back to the cage that Roloson once again stopped but couldn't control. Little Stevey Sullivan was left all alone in front and poked the rebound home. Let's hear it for little Stevey Sullivan, everybody! C'mon! Eighteen seconds can be a long time. For instance, it's enough time to count all of LCS Hockey's money. Or you could count all of LCS Hockey's readers. Or you could give up a breakaway goal to Sylvain Cote. Since there's really no point to those first two, the Sabres elected to go with door number three. Mats Sundin, known as the Big Swede to his friends, sprung Cote loose on the left side with a swell cross-ice pass. The pass was so swell that the officials figured they wouldn't whistle it for being two lines. Way to go, Stripes! Cote took advantage of the blown call by storming in on Roloson, cutting left to right, and shipping a low wrister back against the grain to completely befuddle the Buffalo backup. Two goals in eighteen seconds. As always, we like to call that two in a hurry. Buffalo cut the lead in half at 10:03 of the second period when Jason Woolley connected on the power play for his third goal of the playoffs. Alexei Zhitnik set things in motion by barging down the left wing boards and moving the biscuit to Barnes in the corner. The man named Stu looked the scene over and then sent a nifty pass out to Woolley sneaking into the high slot from the right point. Woolley snapped a quick one-timer into the top left corner of the cage, making Joseph look quick silly in the process.
Any momentum the Sabres hoped to gain by Woolley's goal was dashed at 15:25 of the middle frame. There was a faceoff in the right wing circle of the Buffalo zone featuring Yanic Perreault and Brian Holzinger. Perreault wins more draws than Billy the Kid. And there's a good reason why: he doesn't give up. Holzinger turned his hips like a champ and appeared to have beaten Perreault cleanly, but Yanic fought through his opposing center-ice man and disrupted the win. When Rhett Warrener tried to step up and move the puck to safety, Perreault, with one hand on his stick and the other still trying to fend off Holzinger, reached in and swept the puck away from the Buffalo defender. As everyone fished for the loose puck, no one noticed as Sergei Berezin calmly drifted backwards to the hash marks of the left circle. Well, almost no one. Perreault saw him. And even though both his hands were tied up, Yanic still managed to kick a pass between Jay McKee's legs to a bucknaked Berezin. The Russian sniper did his thing, drilling a snap shot through Roloson's five-hole for the 3-1 Toronto lead. Berezin gets the glory, but Perreault did the work. It can be brutal being the straight man. Just ask Bud Abbott, Dean Martin, or that other guy in Wham. Perreault had the spotlight all to himself at 1:57 of the third, driving wide on right wing around James Patrick and beating Roloson between the pads with a weak backhander from a bad angle. It was almost identical to Perreault's overtime goal in Game Five of the Philadelphia series. The goal was so weak that I had to look twice to make sure it wasn't John Vanbiesbrouck in net. I didn't notice a cane or other elderly walking device so it must of been Roloson. And this is just me talking here, I'm not a goaltending coach or anything, but, Dwayne, it's always a bad sign when you end up with your feet together, your back against the crossbar, and your arms draped over the top of the cage. That's not a good look. By the way, you're carrying that stick for a reason. Don't be scared to keep the blade on the ice. Trailing 4-1 and in desperate need of a spark, the Sabres got back into the contest thanks to a pair of power-play goals from none other than Stu Barnes. That's right, Stu Barnes scored goals in consecutive games for the Sabres. And in case you're wondering, a cold front is moving through Hell as we speak. Stu's first goal came after two close calls by teammates. Holzinger, parked at the bottom of the left wing circle, slid a rebound between Joseph's pads only to have it clang off the far post. Geoff Sanderson cruised in and collected the rebound, snapping a shot towards a yawning net for what seemed an easy goal. But Daniil Markov, showing no signs of being slowed by the superfluous "i" in his first name, dove across and blocked the shot. However, Markov's desperate dive carried him away quicker than Calgon, leaving the puck resting in the crease until Barnes popped it home.
A little less than three minutes later, at 9:47, Barnes struck again. This time he was patrolling the left wing circle when Joseph made a right pad save on a Sanderson drive from the right point, kicking the rebound into precisely the wrong neighborhood. Barnes dipped to one knee and wired a shot into the top right corner. It was beautiful. If the shot was any prettier I'd have married it. Maybe move to the country. Raise a few pucks of our own. Seriously, I think that's like, what, the fourth time I've used that joke? That's pathetic. Everyone knows I don't want to do this anymore, right? Anyway, the score was now 4-3 and the Sabres had new life. They picked up the tempo in an attempt to mulch the Leafs. But they may have picked up the tempo a bit too high. In their zeal to net the equalizer, the Sabres opened themselves up for a counterattack. And oddly enough, it was Michael Peca that made the big defensive mistake. Richard Smehlik had already pinched from the right point to keep the play alive in the Toronto zone. Acting like the good Selke candidate he is, Peca was quick to support and circled back to man Smehlik's vacated position. The only catch is that Peca forgot he was now the last line of defense and gambled. The puck was flipped high up the wall and Peca tried to play it with his glove and fanned. That's trouble. With Peca now caught and Smehlik still trapped deep, the Leafs broke out three-on-one with Lonny Bohonos, Mats Sundin, and Steve Thomas against Zhitnik. What followed could be used in an instructional video on how to run an odd-man break. Bohonos carried the puck in on left wing and drifted wide a bit to open up the ice. Sundin, originally the third man on the rush, darted ahead of Thomas and charged the net, allowing Stumpy to slip into the shooting hole. Bohonos waited for Zhitnik to commit and then floated a real wizard backhand flip pass over the sliding Russian's stick to Thomas. Stumpy unloaded with a perfectly- placed slap shot over a helpless Roloson's catcher to make the score 5-3. Zhitnik should have never left his skates. He took himself out of the play. Even if Thomas hadn't scored on the original shot, there would have been no one around to prevent Sundin from getting the rebound. Keep your skates on a three-on-one, kids. That's just a little something from me to you, the kids. Thomas' goal came at 12:17. The Sabres couldn't muster much over the final seven minutes and Valk capped things off with his empty-netter. Yee-haw! We're the Maple Leafs! Yee-haw! The teams will now head to Buffalo for Game Three Thursday night. All in all, the Sabres have to be feeling pretty good. They earned a split in Toronto despite playing without their top goal- scorer, Miroslav Satan, and the best goaltender on the planet. Satan has been skating the last couple days and could be ready for Game Three. Hasek says his groin is feeling better, but he's still doubtful. IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCES BUFFALO Stu Barnes (2-1-3): Stuuuuuuuuuuuuu. Barnes could be heating up. Three goals in two games. Considering he hadn't scored since the Carter administration, that's some hefty production. TORONTO
Yanic Perreault (1-2-3): His work on Berezin's goal was classic. Why the hell did the Kings trade this guy? Oh, that's right, they're the Kings. That's my bad. Sergei Berezin (1-1-2): Berezin was a threat all evening. He's fun to watch. His release is quick like a bunny. Does anyone even know what that reference is from? If you know, write in. Now's your chance for fame. Daniil Markov: The young blueliner had a rough time in Game One, coughing up a few costly turnovers that led directly to Buffalo goals. He rebounded nicely in Game Two, though, collecting two assists and finishing at a +4. That's nice to see. I was so impressed that I think I might add an extra "i" to my first name in his honor. Miichael Dell. Looks good. WACKY GAME FACTS * Toronto has lost Game One in each of their first three playoff series. But that's okay, because the Leafs have also won Game Two on all three occasions. * All three Buffalo goals were scored with the man-advantage. The Sabres have now scored at least one power-play goal in each of their 12 playoff games. * Abraham Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy, while John Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln. LINES Buffalo: James Patrick continues to get the nod over Darryl Shannon, who led the Sabres during the regular season with a +28. Rookie Dean Sylvester saw action on a fourth line and the power play. OFFENSE (lw-c-rw)
Ward - Peca - Varada DEFENSE
Zhitnik - Smehlik POWER PLAY
Barnes - Primeau - Holzinger - Woolley - Zhitnik SHORT-HANDED
Peca - Juneau - Zhitnik - Smehlik Toronto: Rookie Kevyn Adams centered the fourth line and killed penalties. That's a lot of responsibility for a youngster. OFFENSE (lw-c-rw)
Bohonos - Sundin - Thomas DEFENSE
Yushkevich - Markov POWER PLAY
Bohonos - Sundin - Thomas - Berard - Karpovtsev SHORT-HANDED
Adams - Valk - Karpovtsev - Cote
[ issues | nhl archive | home | nhl history | about us | search | comments ]
|
