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‘Herd About Buffalo' collection
Sabres stomp Sens 4-1
| By Rick Anderson February 28, 2001
Dumont, who had started the season on fire and suddenly went into a two-month drought, scored his 20th goal of the season on a powerplay over halfway through the second period. It came 8 minutes after scoring his first goal, which turned out to be the game winner. Dumont, who was acquired in the Doug Gilmour for Michal Grosek trade last March, has had a roller coaster year. One thing is clear though, he is definitely in the big league for good.
"The last two years, I didn't play much," commented Dumont. "I didn't have a lot of chances in Chicago and now it feels pretty good to have a chance and reach that level. I'm going to try to keep going. The next step is 25, and after that, you never know, maybe 30."
The Sabres have been waiting for Dumont to show his early season form and start hitting the back of the net again. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff had confidence that Dumont would come out of his slump and regain his scoring touch.
"Overall, I thought we played a very good game," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. "We made a few mistakes late in the game and it almost cost us."
The victory could be a costly one for the Sabres though, as they lost both defenseman Jason Woolley and Vaclav Varada late in the third period.
The Sabres coming off a 7-3 thrashing the other night against Phoenix, started out of the gates in a flurry as Dave Andreychuk got the Sabres on the board just 2:48 after the opening faceoff. Going down the Lightning zone on a 2-on-1, Andreychuk got a nice feed from Chris Gratton, ending a shutout streak by Kevin Weekes' that had gone 95 minutes, 39 seconds.
Then came one of the biggest surprises of the game when Doug Gilmour finally netted his fourth goal of the season. It had been a long time coming for the veteran who is probably playing in his last NHL season. Gilmour's goal came on a powerplay and he was left standing all alone on Weekes. Gilmour probably hasn't had an easier goal in years.
We all knew it would end sooner or later. It happened suddenly Friday night as the Sabres winning bubble was burst violently. The Phoenix Coyotes shattered the Buffalo Sabres 4-game winning streak as they bombarded the Sabres with a 7-3 thrashing.
The Sabres, who finally got a video ruling about a controversial goal in their favor the other night when a last second goal by the New Jersey Devils was disqualified as time had run out, had the luck go the other way in this one. Not once, but twice.
First, in a wild scramble in front of the Buffalo crease, Jeremy Roenick got the puck up high on Hasek and it appeared as if the Buffalo goalie had blocked it. But the Coyotes were celebrating the goal and the officials went upstairs where the replay revealed that it had gone in. It was Roenick's 22nd goal of the season and came 9 minutes into the first period.
The second controversial goal turned out to be a no-goal for the Sabres. Buffalo was awarded a two-man advantage and finally got tons of pressure on Phoenix goalie Sean Burke. Stu Barnes got the puck between Burke's pads and the left post, but replays showed that it didn't go completely over the line. Unlike the NFL, where the ball just has to break the plane of the goal line, in hockey the puck has to completely go over the line. After those bad breaks for Buffalo, it was all downhill.
Shane Doan scored a powerplay goal a little over half way through the first period to make it 2-0 Phoenix. Barnes was able to get the Sabres back in the game, making it 2-1 Phoenix, when the two-man advantage ended, but that was as close as the Sabres would get to the two points they were seeking.
"When he was shooting I wasn't sure," admitted Hasek about the non-goal. "I could hear the horn and the puck was still in front of me. I was 99 percent sure it was after time expired."
Hasek was so sure that he skated off the ice and headed towards the locker room. It is rumored that he had already showered and was dressed in street clothers by the time the officials finally determined that the game had ended before the puck crossed the goal line.
"Dom's not wrong very often," said Ruff.
So once again the Sabres are involved in a No goal debate, but it must be refreshing for this jinxed team to finally be on the right side of the controversy.
"I just shot it. I had no idea," said the would-be scorer Rafalski. "Obviously it was close." Hits since this site was created on April 30, 1999.
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