Archives for March 13, 2004

'To say that things took a turn for the worse for Buffalo in the second period would be an understatement.'

'Then, at 11:33, Jay McKee pushed the Sabres' lead to 2-0. Maxim Afinogenov moved in on a three-on-two on the left wing and – feeling pressure – cut the inside. As he cut, he tucked a backhanded pass back against the grain to McKee, who gathered the puck and snapped it to the top corner, short-side, for the two-goal lead. But Nick Boynton cut the Buffalo lead in half on the flukiest goal of the season.'

'Brian Rolston won a faceoff in the Boston end and passed it back to Boynton. Short-handed, he reared back to ice the puck and fired it off the boards at the red line. But instead of following the boards around, as Biron expected, it bounced off and went straight to the spot that the goaltender had vacated to play the puck behind the net.'

'Buffalo squandered a two-goal lead, but salvaged a point and moved within five points of the New York Islanders for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.'

'Ruff already has compared him to a younger Dmitri Kalinin. The only thing Jillson lacked was experience.'

'The Bruins have earned 21 points in games they didn't win.'

'The Sabres have scored 18 goals in their last five games.'