Archives for January 11, 2002

Johan Hedberg loves playing against the Buffalo Sabres. Last spring, he almost singlehandedly kept the Sabres out of the Eastern Conference Finals with his stellar goaltending. Thursday night in Buffalo's HSBC Arena, he helped the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Sabres once again. Hedberg made 36 saves and completely outshone Sabres goalie Martin Biron.

'"Some of the accountability has to fall on the guys we pay a lot of money to score goals," Ruff said. "You can talk about great chances, but I'd rather talk about goals."'

'Varada appeared to detain the goalie a little longer than was necessary, and Hedberg responded by punching Varada not once, not twice, but three times in the head.'

'Hedberg got a few breaks last night — a Stu Barnes shot slammed off the goal post behind him, and Buffalo had a goal waved off after a video review determined the puck had been knocked into the net with a high stick — but no one suggested he should be embarrassed about collecting his shutout bonus.'

'Sabres D Jason Woolley pointed out that the league's compressed schedule has cut down on practice time — both teams made yesterday's game-day skate optional so players could conserve energy — and that teams still are adapting. "It's been such a crazy schedule," Woolley said. "I don't think anybody knew what we were getting into. But now that we're in it, we just have to try to keep moving forward."'

'…the Buffalo crowd – which must be used to having goals disallowed by now – was predictably perturbed when Fraser waved it off.'

'[Wayne] Primeau underwent reconstructive surgery Thursday to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. His recovery is expected to take six months, Penguins general manager Craig Patrick said.'

'"Some accountability has to fall on the guys who get paid to score goals," Ruff said. "You can talk about domination and goaltending. You can talk about great chances. But I'd rather talk about goals."'

'"We hit the post, we had one taken away," goaltender Martin Biron said. "(Hedberg) created good things, that's the reason why they won tonight. They just sat back and waited for a few opportunities on the rush."'