Sabres slice into Sens lead with 3-2 road win
OTTAWA: The Buffalo Sabres struck early before grinding out a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, a win that staved off elimination in Game Four of their Eastern Conference finals series.
Trailing 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, the Sabres got off to the best possible start with a Derek Roy goal just nine seconds into the contest and maintained the lead throughout the game to avoid an embarrassing sweep.
"I think we just had to have something go our way. I think we earned it tonight," relieved Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller told reporters after blocking 31 shots.
Buffalo, the National Hockey League leaders in the regular season, played a listless first three games of the series, but coach Lindy Ruff said his team has displayed a sense of desperation to stay alive.
"A lot of people were counting us out at 3-0," Buffalo captain Chris Drury said.
"Everyone understood what we were up against and actually it relaxed us."
Ottawa Senators' Mike Fisher (left) checks Buffalo Sabres' Teppo Numminen during the first period in Game 4 of the NHL's Eastern Conference final series in Ottawa on Wednesday. Reuters |
Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said Buffalo's early goal - just missing the record of six seconds into a playoff game set in 1977 - put the Senators on the back foot right from the start.
"I thought we sort of got off our game at that point," he said.
Late rally
At 4:32 in the second period, Buffalo converted a 5-on-3 powerplay when Maxim Afinogenov tapped in a pass across the crease from Daniel Briere. Three-and-a-half minutes later, Drury drove home a pass from Tim Connolly to make it 3-0.
Ottawa then staged a late rally in front of their home fans when Dean McAmmond scored with 5:05 left in the second period.
Less than two minutes later, the crowd erupted again when Mike Comrie worked the puck from behind the net to Peter Schaefer, who tapped it in to make it 3-2.
However, a determined Miller held Ottawa scoreless for the final period to ensure both teams made the trip to Buffalo for Game Five on Saturday.
"They've got lots of talent. They found a way to rally tonight," Murray said of Buffalo. "Now we have to find a way to get a little lift from our guys."
The current Ottawa franchise has never swept a postseason series, despite having been in the playoffs every year for the past decade. Buffalo was last swept in 1993.
Much has been made of the fact that only twice in the NHL -- in 1942 and 1975 - teams have rallied from a 3-0 deficit.
Commentators even made a comparision to baseball, where in 2004, the Boston Red Sox returned from the same deficit to defeat the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
Ruff said Buffalo was one step closer to making it the third time in NHL history.
Agencies
(China Daily 05/18/2007 page24)
