Biron posts 2nd straight shutout in Sabres win over Habs
By Rick Anderson
March 9, 2002
Biron has finally turned the corner and seems ready to pick up the torch that Hasek dropped when he shuffled off to Detroit last summer. Biron posted two consecutive shutouts in two straight nights against the Islanders and Montreal Canadiens. Friday night, Biron cloned his shutout of the Islanders by stopping 26 Canadien shots in recording his third shutout of the season as Buffalo beat Montreal 3-0. All this comes as a buildup for the goalie match of the season, Biron going up against his former mentor, the Dominator Sunday afternoon in Buffalo.
Biron’s confidence is improving as the season nears completion.
"I think this is as solid as Marty has played this year," lauded Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. "It seems like everything is in front of him, and he doesn't have to move for any shots."
“The second period was awesome,” said Biron. “I didn’t get to see a lot of shots. I think it was halfway into the second period that I saw my first shot. It’s much easier for a goalie when you see that the guys are on their best game. I just got to pick up what’s left.”
Hasek, who left Buffalo with some bitter words towards the Sabres organization, may not even play Sunday as he will tend the pipes the night before against the St. Louis Blues. Wings coach Scotty Bowman will probably leave the Sabres in the dark until the puck is dropped for that matinee contest.
After that humiliation 3-0 loss to Edmonton Monday, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff seems to finally have a fire under the team. With 19 games remaining, the big question is whether it is too little too late for the fires that have suddenly been ignited. The Sabres are just 4 points out of the final playoff slot in the East, but they have a much tougher schedule in front of them than the first half of the season.
Buffalo got on the scoreboard at 4:31 in the first period when Chris Gratton got his second goal in two nights and his 8th of the season when Stu Barnes fed him out in front just like he did against the Isles. Then J.P. Dumont also got his second goal in two games when he got the puck past Jose Theodore in a wild scrum in front of the Habs goalie. His goal came at the 11:19 mark.
Brian Campbell finished off the scoring 14:36 of the second stanza when he trailed Maxim Afinogenov on a rush towards Theodore. the Habs goalie made a fine stop on Maxim, but the trailing Campbell put it past Theodore. It was the rookie defenseman’s first goal of the season.
The Sabres have not been able to light the fuse all season. Maybe practicing without the puck for 40 minutes may have made them hungrier. Whatever the reason, the Sabres have now scored 8 goals since being shut out by a rookie Oiler goalie and they are starting to look like sharks who have tasted blood.
With Biron finally finding his game right before the big matchup with Hasek, the big question is whether the Sabres can keep this scoring surge going. Ruff is not letting up on his troops.
After that grueling no-pucks practice on Tuesday, Ruff made the entire team get up on the exercise bikes. He isn’t letting up on them even during these back-to-back games.
“We even biked this morning,” revealed Ruff. “We had a mandatory bike ride and another one after the game tonight, so we are going to try to keep pounding in that work ethnic.”
Biron thinks Ruff rough drilling is working.
"Sometimes, you need something to whip you around and get you going," joked Biron. "We realize the situation maybe a little more, or maybe just timing. But you can see it in the guy's eyes that they mean business."
Gratton has now scored two goals in the last two games. He has had a terrible season and has been constantly rumored as trade bait.
“It’s starting to come offensively,” Gratton talked about his game. “Obviously it’s been a frustrating year. Things have gone better lately and I want to contribute as much as possible... as every player does on this hockey club. Especially this time of year, we’ve got to have everybody going and all 20 guys going in the right direction. I’ve landed on a great line with Barnes and Miro and my job is to just go in front of the net and 9 out of 10 times, Miro or Barnes are going to put the puck on your stick like they have the last two games.”
Ruff talked about how important it was to have Biron make those key saves.
“In the third period, he had to make 3 or 4 good saves for us,” Ruff complimented his No. 1 goalie. “The first 40 (minutes of the game), probably two or three chances. I think last night (against the Isles) we fed off those early saves and we need those. To play the style we want to play, which is real aggressive puck pressure, we need those types of saves.”
Gratton said the team had to quickly get the humiliating out of their minds and focus at the task at hand.
“Obviously, the Edmonton game you want to forget about quickly,” said Gratton. “It wasn’t the system we want to play. But the last two games have gone pretty well. That’s the way we have to play for this team to be successful. We have a number of guys pitching in right now and of course Marty is playing outstanding for us.”
The Habs coach Michel Therrien came up against a desperate team, who is now just 4 points back of his Canadiens.
"Buffalo deserved to win,"said Therrien. "They were more aggressive than we were. When you're aggressive, good things happen. They made things happen."
HOME
SEASON'S RESULTS
SABRE TALK MESSAGE BOARD
NEWSROOM
99 PLAYOFFS
Martin Biron is ready to claim the Dominator’s thrown. He has had his baptism by fire this season. At times Biron feels like he has been thrown to the wolves, especially when he sees his defense evaporate in front of his eyes. Replacing the almighty Dominik Hasek in the Sabres goal was like tying to put on Superman’s suit and trying to fly. Biron crashed many times this year.
Sabres goalie Martin Biron puts the stop on Canadiens left winger Sergei Berezin, making one of his 26 saves on route to his second straight shutout. Sabres defenseman Brian Campbell attempts to help out Biron on the play. Buffalo won 3-0.
[AP Photo/Don Heupel]
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 © 2002 Sabres Central, all rights reserved
