Archives for March 18, 2004

'Buffalo’s Derek Roy used a little luck of the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, when he skated into the Atlanta zone and let go a slap shot. The shot was stopped by Nurminen but then bounced off and trickled behind the goaltender for the game winning goal. The Sabres players mobbed the rookie forward after the goal. After the game Roy called it the biggest goal of his career.'

'LW Jochen Hecht has five goals and five assists in his last five games.'

'Sabres spotlight on: D Dmitri Kalinin – Buffalo doesn't generate much offense from its defensemen, but Kalinin leads the bunch. A first-round pick in 1998, Kalinin has set career highs (entering Wednesday) with 21 assists and 28 points and is one goal short of his career best of eight set last year. Despite the career numbers and ranking sixth on the Sabres in points, Kalinin doesn't rank in the top 25 for points by a defenseman.'

'The Lightning has lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time since Dec. 16 but still is 26-5-2-4 since Jan. 3.'

'Left wing Taylor Pyatt also went down and could be lost for the rest of the regular season. He left the game in the first period with a left collarbone separation suffered while finishing a check. Coach Lindy Ruff said the winger could miss the next three weeks.'

'The last time these teams met in Buffalo on Feb. 16 they combined for 118 penalty minutes in a 7-2 Sabres win. The start of the game signaled that neither would back down this time.'

'The game was marred by numerous fights, the last coming when Atlanta enforcer Francis Lessard jumped on Buffalo strongman Andrew Peters with 14:22 left in regulation. Lessard was ejected from the game and the Sabres, trailing 3-1, wound up with a seven-minute power play. They capitalized with just 15 seconds left in the advantage, getting a goal from Andrew Mair.'

'"That might have been one of the gutsiest games I've been around," Ruff said. "The number of guys we had missing, losing Pyatt and Briere, I just can't say enough about the way the guys dug in."'