Archives for October 24, 2001

The art of garbage goal collection. That is a true art indeed. Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has been trying for years to teach his players the fine craft of scoring garbage goals. One of the most important facets of collecting such goals is just shooting on net every chance one gets. It may have taken years, but the Sabres players are finally listening to Ruff.

The Buffalo Sabres let a couple of integral parts of their roster leave this past summer, but the local boys temporarily sit atop the Northeast Division.

'The Sabres, searching for a semblance of consistency 10 games into the 2001-02 campaign, finally put together their first two-game winning streak of the season Tuesday.'

'At 6-foot-4, 226 pounds, Gratton does not zip or dart, so he knows better than to meander. While linemates Maxim Afinogenov and Slava Kozlov chase all over the ice like wind-up dolls on caffeine highs, Gratton has to be content to get from Point A to Point B as efficiently as possible – preferably while taking out a few opposing players in the process.'

'"Those were a couple of easy goals," Kiprusoff said. "I can't give those up, especially when the game is close. Those were easy; I should've saved those." Both goals came in the second period, and the Sharks never regained the upper hand in terms of flow.'

'The Sharks have been seeking to ease Suter's workload because the 37-year-old has had arthroscopic knee surgery during the past two seasons. "I certainly don't want to take any games off as long as the knees are doing good," Suter said. "When we discussed it earlier, it's more about getting rest between games."'

'1. Martin Biron: Buffalo goalie made every big save necessary when the outcome was still in question.'

'After outshooting Buffalo 10-7 in the opening 20 minutes, the Sharks went nearly 20 minutes in the second and third periods without a shot and ended up with a season-low 20 for the game. The Sharks couldn't capitalize on two early power plays and were 0-for-4 on them for the night.'

'San Jose has been outshot in each of its past four games.'

'"We had enough juice to win this game," Sharks captain Owen Nolan said. "To have a weak goal go in like that may have deflated us a bit. But that's one of those things that you can't let affect you."'