Archives for May 20, 2006

'Carolina outshot Buffalo 31-27. Miller outdueled Cam Ward in a battle of rookie goalies. Ward made 24 saves.'

'"I think it helps set the tone for the series," said Ruff, 46, who has been the Sabres' coach since July 1997 and is the longest-tenured head coach in the 30-team N.H.L. "Especially when you're on the road, you don't want to get down in the first two games."'

'Dozens of Bar-B-Q’s are cooking up a mountain of burgers, hot dogs and steaks. Copious amounts of ice cold beer are being consumed with a passion. There’s road hockey; loud music, you name it. What an incredible atmosphere for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. Sabres fans, some who drove 11 hours straight to get to Raleigh; are partying their brains out and have turned a section of the parking lot into something called “Sabres Alley”.'

'"I don't care what the game looked like. We won and that's all that matters."'

'"He made a couple of saves late in the third period that allow you to win a hockey game when you're not at your best," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said of Miller. "He has a calmness about him now that he didn't have six months or a year ago."'

'"You have to work to get your bounces and when we get back to working and playing well for 60 minutes we will get those bounces," Cory Stillman said following a 3-2 loss in the series opener against the Sabres. "Give them credit, every time there was a bounce they were a step ahead of us and not giving up that second opportunity."'

'To say that Ryan Miller was spectacular in net for Buffalo would be an understatement. The Sabres’ rookie was poised and focused as he turned aside 29 of 31 Carolina shots.'

'The game featured plenty of the end-to-end action many observers have predicted for the series between two of the regular season's top five scoring teams, and both goalies were tested early and often.'

‘Buffalo defenseman Teppo Numminen was injured during Game 1. The team is calling Numminen’s ailment a “lower-body injury”.’

‘After 40 minutes….Buffalo has seized control of the game. The Sabres aren’t making the mistakes Carolina is, they outshot the Hurricanes 13-4 in the period, are beating the Canes in the face off circle, and Carolina has 7 give aways in each period. Not a winning formula for the home team.’