Biron and his magic glove shatter shutout record
By Rick Anderson
January 25, 2003
While it didn't seem so at the time, Miller's arrival may have been the best thing to ever happen for Biron's career. Friday night, Biron recorded his third consecutive shutout as the Sabres blanked the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0. Biron feels he owes Miller for a lot of his recent success, from motivating him right down to a Miller's catching glove.
There were rumors, with Miller playing so well, that Biron would be traded. The Sabres were in last place in the entire NHL and goaltending was one of the main reasons for the Sabres misfortunes. Biron was 6-16-5 and even while the Sabres goal production was up, he just seemed to give up too many late goals. Too many times the Sabres took a 2-0 lead only to allow it to slip from their grasp.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff brought Miller up from Rochester on New Year's Eve to play against the Islanders. He needed to shake the team up in a big way and the coach decided that goaltending was the best place to start. Miller, who had a disappointing brief first stint with the Sabres earlier in the season, shutout the Isles in regulation time, only to lose it in overtime. However, Ruff liked what he saw and put Miller in goal the next game against Carolina. He allowed 3 goals in a 6-3 win, but Ruff wanted to see even more of the former Hoby Baker Award winner and Miller was right back in the nets the next night in Ottawa. It was there that Miller robbed the Senators and forced a 1-1 overtime. Alex Kotalik scored late in the overtime to give Miller the win and further cement Biron to the bench.
When Miller shutdown the Minnesota Wild last week, it appeared as if Biron would have a long wait to get back into the crease. Miller allowed 2 goals against the San Jose Sharks and that was enough to get Biron back into the starting lineup against the Phoenix Coyotes. Biron grabbed that opportunity and ran with it.
He started his shutout streak by making 30 saves against the Coyotes and was the force behind a rare west coast win for the Sabres. Biron was stellar in the final period, making 11 stops. While on the penalty kill, Curtis Brown scored after receiving a nice feed from Miroslav Satan. From that point on, Biron made 8 saves to win the game and preserve his second shutout of the season. It was not to be his last.
Biron stopped a shot by Jamie Pushor from the point and the rebound went right out to Shean Donovan positioned at the right faceoff circle. With Biron down and out, it appeared as if it would be an easy goal for Donovan. All he needed to do was to flip it up over the fallen goalie, right? Not this time. In an amazin' feat equal to any of Hasek's past phenomenal circus acts,
Biron looked back to see the shot and somehow was able to flip his big red catching glove into the air and snared it before it could hit the back of the net. It was the kind of catch that could have won him the Golden Glove award if he were playing baseball.
"It was about 99 percent luck when I rolled on my back and threw my glove up in the air, but that's just the way it's going," admitted Biron. "I was looking right up to the banners, and I rolled over and threw my glove up in the air. I didn't even know I had it until I saw it in my web. A lot of time it's instinct, but that was basically pure luck."
Adam Mair couldn't believe his eyes.
"I think that one save by Marty had to be the best save I've seen all year," said Mair. "It was amazing."
About that glove. It seems that Biron was searching for anything to change his bad luck. It was in Montreal, when Biron asked Miller if he could borrow the bright red glove that the rookie goalie had discarded in favor of a newer one. Biron put it on, allowed two goals against the Habs and has been perfect since.
"It felt good," described Biron. "It was bright red, white and navy blue. I told my parents I've got this new glove but it looks terrible. They just said: 'Whatever.' If it feels good, use it."
Now the word is out. Biron has a magical bright red glove that sticks out like a sore thumb. Some opposing coaches may just ask referees to measure the glove to make sure it is legal. The glove has even acquired the nickname of "Big Red."
Against the Leafs Friday night, it was Big Red taking Marty for another shutout ride. The Leafs may try to steal the glove before their next return to HSBC Arena on March 6th.
Biron had his best game of the season, making 27 saves against the Leafs and stopping two breakaways with the ease of, well, the ease of the Dominator. In shutting out the Leafs, Biron shattered Hasek's all-time Sabres shutout string of 178 minutes, 33 seconds. By game's end, Biron had now gone 201 minutes, 12 seconds. Quite a feat indeed!
While Hasek's all-time shutout mark of 55 appears to be safe for now, Biron relishes the fact that he did steal one of the Dominator's records.
The seldom speechless Biron, was all smiles after the game.
"When Dom goes into the Hall of Fame, I'll be able to give him a call and say: 'There is something you left behind,'" joked Biron. "It's a great moment right now, and I might never have a chance at this again. I will cherish it, definitely."
Satan got two goals against the Leafs, while Chris Gratton and Taylor Pyatt recorded the other tallies. It was a game where the Sabres domination of the Leafs started between the pipes and spread to the entire team. The Sabres are feeding off the great goaltending supplied them this new year like they used to when Hasek manned the pipes for Buffalo.
"We've been getting fantastic goaltending, not just good goaltending," lauded Ruff. "(When Biron comes up big), you go out and it usually builds a little momentum.
"He made a couple of real key saves. I mentioned (before) the two shorthanded breakaways (Biron stopped). Those are the type of saves you need that allowed us to go out and score a powerplay goal."
When asked about topping Dominik's feat, Biron said, "That's something that you keep in the back of your mind. When I'm done playing, 10-15 years after that, I'll be looking at that as an accomplishment. But right now, it's to get the game going. I was excited about coming in tonight and get going and see what we could do against a team that's been playing pretty well."
Eddie Belfour was chased by the Sabres when Satan cashed in on his second goal in the final period. At that point, the outnumbered Sabres fans started chanting "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie."
This was the second sellout of the season for Buffalo. The only other sellout was also against Toronto. Like before, the majority of the crowd was made up by blue and white Leaf fans.
The way the Sabres-Leafs game are, it is a shame these two teams don't play every game against each other. Rob Ray and Tie Domi got into a festive fight, with Domi getting the overall decision, but not without Ray delivering some hefty blows himself. The Sabres also came to defense of Biron when he was roughed up in the crease.
"The way we've been playing, we feel we can match up in any situation," implied Biron. "You could see in the guys' faces we were going to come out on top. We were going to force them and not sit back. You could tell the guys were confident, and I'm able to feed off this."
With the Sabres ownership situation getting even stickier when Tom Golisano threw his hat back into the ring, the Sabres have taken a page out of the Ottawa Senators book by putting blinders on to all the legal rhetoric. Golisano, sent a new bid in to the NHL, stating that he would not require any state or local assistance. His bid was for $65 million, but it was worded so that Adelphia would end up not getting any money from Golisano when all was said and done.
The good news for Sabres fans is the product on the ice has improved dramatically since the start of the year.
"It's fun to win like we've been doing," said Stu Barnes. "But we need to keep our feet grounded, so we can make sure we keep playing the way we have."
The Sabres have been great recently killing off penalties. They have only allowed 2 in the last 50.
"It's a desperate situation when you're down a man but the main thing is the goaltending," reflected Jay McKee. "You know you're going to give up your chances, and you need the goaltending to be there. We've been flowing behind that."
Meanwhile, the Leafs were licking their wounds after the game. They felt like they had come into a lion's den.
"They're always a hard-working group of guys," admitted Leafs forward Travis Green. "Confidence is a funny thing. When you get going and get a few wins under your belt, it seems like things fall into place a little easier."
"I don't know if we had it going at all tonight, to be honest with you," implied Shane Corson. "They were assertive. They were the ones playing aggressive and playing hard and hitting us. We were retaliating. You're not going to win hockey games doing that."
Leafs coach and GM Pat Quinn was not taking this loss to lightly.
"I was very disappointed in our defensemen tonight," said Quinn. "We created some chances but the kind of goals we gave up were truly ugly and not very comforting to watch as far as how our hockey team should be playing. We need to straighten it out. I don't know what to say exactly except I'm pretty disappointed."
Then Quinn turned his attention to the officiating. He took exception to the hits that Belfour was taking.
"They were crashing the net pretty well and the referees weren't doing anything about it. Our defensemen didn't do anything about it so I took him out to save his life really," admitted Quinn.
Biron is taken care of Miller's bright red glove like a father taking care of his first born. He is hoping his streak continues so he can remain the No. 1 goalie in this heated battle with Miller.
"It's as good as I've felt," reflected Biron. "A lot of time it's circumstances, being in the right time or the right situation.
"It seems like the game slows down when you're in a zone, and I think for the last few games it's been happening."
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Martin Biron sat on the bench, contemplating his future. He was halfway into the season and his career was in shambles. Little did he know that he had received a late Christmas present and it came in the form of Ryan Miller, who had replaced him as the Buffalo Sabres starting goaltender.
The Dynamic Duo! Sabres goalie Martin Biron is congratualted by "backup" goalie Ryan Miller (30) after Biron shattered Dominik Hasek's record of 178 shutout minutes. Biron shutout the Maple Leafs 4-0, for his third straight shutout.
[AP Photo/Don Heupel]
Biron starts shutout string against Coyotes
Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins came to Buffalo and Biron was once again in the nets. He made 23 saves in the rare 0-0 tie with the Pens. There was one save in particular that maybe even the great Dominator couldn't have come up with.
Sabres goalie Martin Biron stops Leafs right winger Paul Healey during first period action. Biron blanked the Leafs 4-0, for his third straight shutout.
[AP Photo/Don Heupel]
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