| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Dominik Hasek put the Stanley Cup
champion New Jersey Devils in a place no one expected -- last in the
Atlantic Division.
Hasek made 23 saves in posting his second straight shutout and
the Buffalo Sabres beat the Devils 4-0 Saturday night, handing them
their fifth straight loss.
|  | | Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek makes one of his 23 saves en route to his 47th career shutout. |
The losing streak is the longest for the team since January
1991, and it also extended New Jersey's current winless streak to
six games. The skid also dropped the Devils into a tie for last
place in the Atlantic with the New York Islanders.
"They don't look the same as last year," Hasek said after the
Sabres won for the sixth time in seven games. "It's 82 games and
every team gets into slumps. Maybe for them, it comes at the
beginning of the year."
Devils coach Larry Robinson said his team just has to work
harder.
"They're the ones who have to pull themselves out of it,"
Robinson said. "The best thing they can do is take a look in the
mirror and ask themselves if they are doing all they are capable of
doing."
Jean-Pierre Dumont, Dave Andreychuk, Rhett Warrener and Maxim
Afinogenov scored against Martin Brodeur, who returned to the
Devils' net despite being knocked out of Friday night's game after
falling and hitting his head on the ice.
Hasek was good when he had to be in posting his 47th career
shutout, but he also was very lucky, having at least four shots
bounce off his goalposts.
"We've been playing really well at home, but on the road we've
had some problems," Hasek said. "Today it was completely
different. We played a very disciplined game. We backchecked really
hard. We were the better team right from the beginning."
Patrik Elias banged one off the post while the Devils were
shorthanded, and the Sabres turned that into a quick counterattack
and scored.
Miroslav Satan had the puck in the right corner and Dumont got
open in front with a little crosscheck to the back of defenseman
Ken Daneyko. Satan fed the pass in front and Dumont scored his
fifth of the season with 1:22 left in the period.
Petr Sykora, Bobby Holik and Brian Rafalski all hits posts in
the second period, while Hasek came up with his biggest save on a
power-play shot by Holik.
"It's nice to get a second shutout in a row," Hasek said. "I
was a couple of times, lucky."
Andreychuk, a former Devils player, gave Buffalo some breathing
room early in the third period, cutting across the middle and
beating Brodeur off his skate. Warrener stretched the lead to 3-0
at 8:23 on a shot from the point that Dumont seemed to deflect.
The crowd at the Continental Airlines Arena started chanting
"We want Arnott" at that point, a reference to center Jason
Arnott, who remains unsigned, along with defenseman Scott
Niedermayer.
Devils captain Scott Stevens said the players can't worry about
the unsigned players.
"We won with the people in this room early, and we're not
playing like that now," Stevens said.
Afinogenov chipped a puck over Brodeur with 5:23 remaining.
Game notes
Devils forward Jay Pandolfo missed his 13th straight game
with a shoulder injury. He hopes to return next week... Devils
forward Randy McKay wore a visor to protect an eyelid cut in Friday
night's game with the Penguins. ... The victory was only the
Sabres' second on the road (2-4-0-1). ... Afinogenov's goal was his
first since Oct. 5. ... Andreychuk has goals in two straight games,
and five goals for the season.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Buffalo Clubhouse
New Jersey Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 4
Ottawa 3
Nashville 2
Boston 2
Dallas 2
Montreal 0
San Jose 4
NY Islanders 0
Chicago 3
Toronto 3
Columbus 2
Phoenix 1
Buffalo 4
New Jersey 0
Pittsburgh 5
Edmonton 2
Calgary 4
Tampa Bay 3
Colorado 3
Anaheim 1
St. Louis 5
Vancouver 2
Detroit 2
Los Angeles 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Goalie Martin Brodeur makes a spectacular glove save in spite of the Devils' loss.
avi: 582 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
