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Saturday, Dec. 30 7:00pm ET
Isles notch seventh scoreless game | |||||
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UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- The New York Islanders didn't allow an even-strength or power-play goal against Buffalo -- and still lost. Martin Biron made 15 saves for his first shutout of the season, Denis Hamel had a short-handed goal, and Erik Rasmussen scored into an empty net as the Sabres beat the Islanders 2-0 on Saturday night. "All we gave up was one short-handed goal. We had some pretty good opportunities, but didn't score," Islanders coach Butch Goring said. "The disappointing thing is that we beat ourselves." The Islanders have been held scoreless a league-high seven times this season. The shutout was Biron's sixth in 57 NHL games. The Sabres' top goalie, Dominik Hasek, recorded his 49th career shutout Friday in a 2-0 victory over Ottawa. Biron "was rock-solid. We're getting good goaltending for the most part," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. New York goalie John Vanbiesbrouck played well, making 24 saves. But the Islanders lost for the fourth time in six games; they have one more game on their current homestand. The Islanders had the better chances in the scoreless first period, but Biron turned back all eight shots he faced. One unexpected chance for the Islanders came at 10:47 while killing a penalty. Defenseman Aris Brimanis took a long clearing shot toward Biron. The puck ticked off his glove and bounced off the top of the net before landing behind the goal. Vanbiesbrouck made a tough save five minutes into the second period to keep the score 0-0, sticking out his right pad to thwart Stu Barnes' close-range one-timer from the low slot. The Sabres took the lead at 13:13 of the second period on an Islanders' power play. Buffalo defenseman Richard Shmelik took the puck away from Mariusz Czerkawski at the Sabres' blue line, and passed ahead to Miroslav Satan, who led a two-on-one rush with Hamel. Satan moved into the right circle and crossed over to Hamel, who quickly released a shot that Vanbiesbrouck got a piece of but couldn't keep from going into the net. "When I saw Miro on the boards, I just tried to skate as fast as I can to get us a two-on-one," Hamel said. "The puck came right on my blade, and I just had to put it in. It was the easiest goal I scored this year." The Islanders killed off a 1:39 two-man disadvantage in the final period, but they didn't generate any momentum and wound up with only four shots in the period. With Vanbiesbrouck pulled for an extra skater, Rasmussen fired the puck into the empty net with 46.6 seconds left. "They weren't going to beat themselves," Goring said. "We've got four rookie defensemen in the lineup, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that when you have four rookie defensemen, you're going to dump the puck in all the time and make them work it out. And giving up just one short-handed goal is a tribute to how well our defensemen played." Game notesThe Islanders haven't won more than two games in a row at home this season. ... Hamel scored Buffalo's third short-handed goal this season. The Sabres are the only team to not allow a short-handed goal so far. ... Hasek had the night off after Friday's 34-save shutout of Ottawa. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Buffalo Clubhouse NY Islanders Clubhouse RECAPS Edmonton 3 Montreal 2
Buffalo 2
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