Byron out-duels Biron as Bruins blank Sabres 1-0
By Rick Anderson
January 30, 2000

Bryon Dafoe out-battled Martin Biron in the skirmish of the goalies in Boston Saturday night and as a result, the Bruins walked away with a 1-0 victory over the Sabres. Both Biron and Dafoe made 24 saves, but the only goal the Sabres rookie goalie allowed in two games cost his team dearly. By losing, the Sabres blew a chance to tie Boston in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race, falling four points behind them.

Andre Savage attempts to wack the puck past Martin Biron

Biron, who had shutout the Ottawa Senators the night before, did all he could except score a goal for his struggling offense. This was the second straight game that the Sabres have failed to light the lamp against the Bruins, and third straight shutout in Boston. Dominik Hasek, who's on pace to return to the nets Thursday against Ottawa, will not do much better. The best he can do for this goalless team is to earn 0-0 ties.

The Bruins owned the first period and a half, as the Sabres could only muster 6 shots on goal. For some reason the Sabres physical play failed to make the trip to Boston. Against Ottawa, the Sabres were creating havoc around their opponents net, in this game the Sabres did not charge the net.

The only goal of the game came when P.J. Axelsson picked up a rebound off Joe Thorton's slap shot and he was able to flick the puck past Biron.

"Thornton came down the left wing and took a slap shot that bounced off my toe, and instead of kicking it to the corner it came right out in front to Axelsson," Biron said. "I tried to be aggressive with it once it got to Axelsson, but he flipped it over me."

"It was a fortunate break for me," Axelsson said. "I saw the puck come right off (Biron's) skate right onto my stick. I waited for him to make a move and then I just lifted the puck over him."

Biron was perfect the rest of the way except for the fact that he didn't score any goals against Dafoe. It's getting to the point where the Buffalo goalies will have to do exactly that if they want to win more games.

The Sabres finally started to press against the Bruins in the last half of the game. That's when Dafoe took over and shined. The Sabres peppered him with 9 shots in the second period and 10 in the final stanza. However, nothing was going to get past Dafoe in this game.

The Bruins, who are owned by Buffalo native Jeremy Jacobs, were challenged by their owner before the game. He criticized Bruins coach Pat Burns in a Boston Globe article Saturday morning.

"I think our team has been managed well by Harry Sinden (Bruins GM) and Mike O'Connell (Assistant GM), but our coaching has not been what I think it should be," Jacobs was quoted in the article.

"This thing coming out today was surprising," said Bruins captain Ray Bourque. "We don't need that right now and it is a distraction."

"I think all of this started when some anonymous player said a stupid thing to the Herald," said Burns. "That's how I think this all got started."

The victory was only the Bruins second in 17 games in Boston. The last time they won in the Fleet Center was back on December 13 against Phoenix.

"I was happy with our effort tonight," Burns said. "Pretty much from the beginning of the game, we came out and took everything that they offered, including the cheap little stuff they tried to throw at us."

This was the third time this season that the Bruins have shutout the Sabres. The first one came when John Grahame blanked Buffalo back on October 30.

"My goals against isn't where I'd like it to be,"said Dafoe. "I've struggled at times, but I definitely feel things are coming together."

Dafoe came up big when he had to. In the second period, Brian Holzinger broke in on goal but Dafoe blocked his shot and then was able to clear the rebound shot by Miroslav Satan.

"We had a lapse in the second period, but Dafoe made some big saves during that stretch that kept us in the game," said Burns.

Near the end of the game, the Sabres had Biron pulled in favor of the extra attacker and put a lot of pressure on Dafoe. Newly acquired Vladimir Tsyplakov had a glorious chance to tie the game with a half a minute remaining, but Dafoe stifled him.

"I take a lot of encouragement out of the fact that we have had points out of the last (eight) games," said Dafoe. "It means we're doing something right. Our fans were getting frustrated, and understandably so."

This was the Sabres fourth straight loss on the road. Buffalo is in desperate need to start a long winning streak to get back into the playoff race and their problems on the road is hurting them.

"Both goalies earned their pay," said Lindy Ruff after the game. "We are a good team when all our lines are generating, but our offense hasn't shown up in our last three road games.

"You look at the last three road games and that sums our offense. We got one goal in Phoenix, one goal in Carolina and none tonight. We're not kidding anyone."

"I don't know what it is," Ruff continued. "Maybe it's not having good position offensively, but all I could say is we came out in the first 30 minutes of that game and were real sluggish. Guys have to work hard and skate hard and I think that's what it comes down to for us offensively."

The Sabres come home for two home games before the All-Star break. They play Anaheim on Tuesday and host Ottawa again on Thursday. It is unclear if Hasek will start Thursday's game, but it's a safe bet that the team will be extra cautious in starting him too soon, especially the way Biron has been playing lately.

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