Sabres withstand Hurricanes for tie
By Rick Anderson
January 30, 2002
It was Battaglia 18th goal of the season and couldn't have come at a more opportune time. The Sabres had gone up 2-1 on a goal by Chris Gratton only 1:03 before Battaglia's goal and with the strong goaltending by Martin Biron, it looked like the Sabres were going to win their third. straight.
This game was chippy from the start, with Sabres captain Stu Barnes needing 7 stitches to close a gash over his left eye when hit by a puck. Also, J.P. Dumont caught the blade of Canes goalie Arturs Irbe's stick smack in the nose. The Sabres were able to put some pressure on Irbe, after he relieved former Sabre netminder Tom Barrasso early in the game. Barrasso pulled a groin muscle after stopping 3 shots. The Sabres poured 39 shots on the two goalies and could only muster 2 goals. Meanwhile, Biron stopped 34 shots and appears to be completely over the inconsistency that plagued him for over half the season so far.
The Sabres opened the scoring 2:37 into the second stanza when Maxim Afinogenov fired a 50-foot slap shot that somehow beat Irbe for his 17th of the season. It was the 4th goal against the Canes this season for Mad Max.
Minutes after making a spectacular stop on Jeff O'Neill, Eric Cole got a pass over to O'Neill, who flipped the puck over Biron's catching mitt to tie it at 1.
"It was unbelievable how fast he got the puck up," described Biron about O'Neill's shot.
Biron had made one of his most daring saves of the season before on O'Neill when the Canes center went after a huge rebound and saw a huge opening to Biron's right. He quickly shot the puck towards the net, but Biron was able to use the top end of his stick to stop the shot. The puck dribbled around before Biron was able to finally bat it away with his glove.
"I was looking at the ceiling and the rafters and counting the numbers up there while the puck was still rolling somewhere," described Biron. "I don't really know what happened. It was at my feet. I really couldn't see where it was. got up in front and he came in. I just threw my body right there. I think if he's a little bit more patient he can get around me. But I charged him pretty good and that's what made the difference."
The two teams battled in overtime, with the Sabres outshooting the Canes 6-3. Both teams split the 2 points and the Sabres remain 4 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot. They now have off for one week before playing their next game on Tuesday in Boston.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff described losing Barnes in the first few minutes of the game.
"It was tough on us losing Stu in the first period," Ruff said. "We rotated centermen, tried to just play three centermen, and just rotate them through the line. I thought once Stu got back we got right back into rhythm and everything looked a lot better. After that it was a little bit of riverboat gamblers out there."
Gratton, who scored only his second goal in his last 37 games, will take them any way they come these days.
"Goals are obviously hard to come by right now,"said Gratton. "It's been a bit of a struggle but when you get a bonus, so to speak, like that, or a lucky bounce, it allows you to gain confidence."
The Canes definitely are getting tired of ties. They now have five in their last seven games and no wins during that stretch.
"It's just getting old," said Carolina coach Paul Maurice "We've got to find a way to win a game -- hit a net. It's starting to feel like we haven't won in a long time and that's what I'm most concerned about. It's little things that will put us over the top. We played hard enough and well enough in spurts, but we're just not getting that jump to get over the hump."
Read ESPN's Game Recap for more game details.
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The Buffalo Sabres appeared to be on the verge of winning three straight games going into the All-Star break. Then Carolina's Bates Battaglia converted a rebound with 9:48 to go in the game to tie it at 2-2 and that's how it ended as the Sabres and Hurricanes played to a draw.
Hurricanes' Bates Battaglia, who scored the tying goal, fights for the puck with Sabres goaltender Martin Biron during first period action.
[AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker]
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