Archives for April 16, 2001

In the words of the great Mike Robitaille, this series notebook looks like a hound's breakfast…

'Buffalo Sabres center Erik Rasmussen will miss Monday night's playoff game against the Philadelphia Flyers with a slightly separated right shoulder. Vladimir Tsyplakov, who sat out the first two games of the playoff series, will take Rasmussen's spot on Buffalo's checking line, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Monday. Rasmussen was listed as day-to-day.'

‘After getting their game broken up by the Philadelphia Flyers all year, the Buffalo Sabres apparently have found a way to put it together when it matters most.’

'Two games hardly cement a reputation. But it could be that Rasmussen's time has finally come.'

'Keith Primeau knows he could further injure his damaged left knee by playing tonight. He just doesn't seem to care.'

'"We must play better. I think tomorrow we must play hard and create and play on defense," he said. "(The Sabres had) too many open (shots) and Buffalo had many breakaways and I told (the Flyers' skaters), we must play better on defense and neutral zone. All the guys must play better than in the last game."'

Although the obvious pressure is more squarely located on the Flyers' collective shoulders to climb back into this series, there's a definite urgency on the Sabres' side as well to take full control of the series and extinguish any possible momentum Philadelphia might gain with a victory.

‘”Obviously, there is a possibility you can tear it,” Primeau said. “It’s two months before that ligament finally heals. If I waited till the end of the first round, there is no guarantee that ligament will be healed. . . . I want to get back in there. It’s the competition thing.”‘

‘One possible sign that things are much different than last year, when the Flyers eliminated the Sabres in five games, came during Saturday’s contest as the on-ice officials noticed a hole in the Buffalo net and repaired it.’

'"You can bring that into your coaching: what it takes, what the pitfalls are along the way. Coaching . . . might be a little more difficult if you've never won the Stanley Cup. . . . There's that credibility factor. And he has it, being a member of a team that won something."'