Biron saves the day in Beantown
By Rick Anderson
March 5, 2006
Martin Biron hadn’t played since January 21, so the rust was certain to be
there. Playing in Boston against the resurgent Bruins, Biron certainly wasn’t
his sharpest as the Bruins coasted to an early 2-0 lead. But then Biron buckled
down and put in a stellar 40-save performance as the Sabres came from behind for
a 3-2 win over the Bruins. Biron has a week of uncertainy left before he finds out where he will spend
the rest of the season. There have been rumors and speculation flying since
September that Biron was going to be dealt to relieve the Sabres of their logjam
in goal. After an impressive 6-2 win at home against the Maple Leafs, the feeling was
strong that the Sabres would lose in Boston. The Bruins have been kicking it up
a few notches recently in victories over the Senators and others. This was an
ambush waiting to happen. Biron settled down and played spectacular goaltending after allowing those
two goals and shut down the Bruins the rest of the way. "I hadn't played in a while, and getting down, 2-0, is not a very good
way to start, but I didn't stress too much about it," noted Biron. "I
knew we had something inside of us." Biron got high marks from Lindy Ruff for his game-saving performance. "The way we played in the second was the way they played in the
third," alluded Ruff. "They totally dominated and got us on our heels.
It was great to see Marty shut the door." The Sabres got their goals from Daniel Briere, Jochen Hecht and J.P. Dumont
and that’s all that Biron needed to notch his first win since his 13th
straight victory on December 17. It was important that the Sabres kept pace with the Ottawa Senators who beat
the Leafs 4-2. A loss to the Bruins would probably made the gulf between too
wide for the Sabres to cross. Now the Sabres are still 4 points behind the Sens
with neither team having games in hand. Sabres rake Leafs The night before, the Sabres hosted their rivals from the north, the Toronto
Maple Leafs. It is always a fun-filled night when the Blue & White invade
Buffalo. The 40 or so buses were parked on the surrounding streets when we got there.
The HSBC lobby was filled with frenzied Leafs fans already chanting "Go
Leafs go!" The atmosphere was electrified and with Pat LaFontaine having
his jersey retired before the game, the crowd was definitely into the great
rivalry between these two friendly neighbors. LaFontaine's jersey retired Biron’s future decided this week Could this be the week that Darcy Regier wakes up from his annual slumber and
actually makes a trade? The man whose trademark is sitting on his hands has to
have the most cushy job in sports. He doesn't do anything and gets full marks
when the team does well. The trade deadline is February 9th and maybe Darcy has his alarm
clock set for midnight Wednesday. Will Regier finally wake up and prove his
worth as a GM? We shall see by Thursday.
HOME
SEASON'S RESULTS
SABRE TALK MESSAGE BOARD
NEWSROOM
99 PLAYOFFS
Biron has weathered the storm of rumors and has kept a happy face throughout.
Even though Ryan Miller has played the bulk of the games this season, Biron
proved to be a very capable replacement when he took over during Miller's injury
timeout. Biron had won 13 straight games and kept the Sabres ship afloat.
Saturday night in Boston, Biron got one of his rare opportunities to show his
stuff and prove that he is indeed a No. 1 goalie for anyone who wants him. He
was outstanding in goal, and after allowing two quick Boston goals, blanked the
Bruins the rest of the way.
The Bruins opened up a quick 2-0 lead with the Sabres giving Ryan Miller a rest
in favor of Biron. While Biron couldn't be blamed for the two quick strikes, one
had to wonder if he was going to get chased from the nets early.
The Sabres took an early 2-1 lead in the first period and never looked back.
While there was still plenty of rust on these Sabres, the Leafs looked old and
tired as Buffalo beat Toronto 6-2 before yet another packed house in HSBC Arena.
It appeared as if the Blue & White held the majority of the seats in this
one, but the Sabres fans made up for it with their intensity in drowning out the
"Go Leafs Go" chants with their own "Let's Go Buffalo!"
It was the perfect gift for Pat LaFontaine. On the night when they retired
his jersey and the number 16, Patty hinted that he wanted the Sabres to beat the
Leafs during an interview shown on the Jumbotron. His jersey was already hanging
in the rafters after a half hour pre-game ceremony, and there was a break during
the first period. LaFontaine mentioned that the Sabres were leading 2-1 and
hinted that he'd like them to finish the job. His boys did that and more in a
6-2 thumping of the Leafs and Patty went home a very happy man.
Pat LaFontaine is honored before Sabres-Leafs game. LaFontaine's jersey is retired.
[Sabres Central Photo]
During the ceremonies, when LaFontaine was introduced to the sellout crowd Leafs
fans started chanting "Go Leafs Go" and it drew a quick booing
response by the Sabres fans. Outside of that initial skirmish, all the fans were
respectful of the man who played 6 years with the Sabres and a total of 15 years
in the league, making the Hockey Hall of Fame a couple years ago.
There were lots of dignitaries on the scene, including the French Connection of
Gil Perreault, Rene Robert and Rick Martin. Danny Gare, who had his number and
jersey retired earlier this season, also was on hand to congratulate LaFontaine.
This year Regier is probably the luckiest GM in hockey. He let both Miro Satan
and Alexei Zhitnik slip away without even a bag of pucks for compensation.
Regier filled the hole at defense by signing two over age defensemen from
Finland. Outside of that, Regier was sleeping on the job as usual and getting
compliments for sticking with the players on the team.
The Sabres have a logjam at goal with Ryan Miller, Marty Biron and Mika Noronen...all
capable goalies. At the beginning of the season, it was said that the Sabres
wouldn't go through the season too long with 3 goalies. Well, we are at the
trade deadline and Regier is still in his bear's cave, not willing to come out
and earn his paycheck.
When Biron replaced the injured Miller and won 13 straight games in December,
Biron was the hottest trading commodity in the NHL. What does Regier do to earn
his paycheck?? Snore! ZZZZZZZZ
Now Biron has lost a lot of his luster and won his first game since that 13-game
mark (he had lost 4 straight after) and after playing spectacular in goal
against the Bruins Saturday night, now is the time to trade Biron and get a
player who will help the Sabres in the playoff push and the post season. The
Sabres need help at defense where they are pretty thin. Also, Regier is waiting
until after the season to deal with the Jay McKee situation. McKee is an
unrestricted free agent and will be gone if the Sabres don’t work out some
kind of deal to keep the longest tenure Sabre with the team. McKee is having his
greatest season as a Sabre and is close to the top in blocking shots. He has
stated numerous times he wants to stay in Buffalo, but the sleeping Regier is
playing his old "squeeze ‘em till the bitter end" game. Now is the
time for Regier to not only trade Biron for some much needed defensive help, but
he should secure the best defensemen still with the team.
THE PLAYERS
STATISTICS
SCHEDULE
PROSPECTS
LIVE GAME RADIO
HISTORY
TEAM INFO
PHOTO GALLERY
MULTIMEDIA
SABRES POLL
TROPHY CASE
LINKS
THE STAFF
E-MAIL SABRESWORD
Copyright © 2006 Sabres Central, all rights reserved
