Saturday, Feb. 10 7:00pm ET
Afinogenov roofs puck past Lalime in OT
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BOX SCORE
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) – Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff told his
players enough was enough Saturday night.
The Sabres had won only one of their previous 10 regular-season
games at the Corel Centre, going back to April 12, 1997. Buffalo
goaltender Dominik Hasek was winless in eight previous
regular-season games here, ever since a 3-1 decision March 1, 1997.
|  | | Buffalo's Dominik Hasek makes one of his 32 saves on Ottawa's Martin Havlat during the second period of the Sabres 2-1 win Saturday. |
But Maxim Afinogenov struck 1:52 into overtime Saturday to lift
the Sabres to a 2-1 victory.
"I was upset after the first period and I let the players know
it," Ruff said. "I'm tired of losing in this building. I told
them if they continued to play like they did in the first period,
we would lose, and they responded.
"We played our best second period in this building."
Miroslav Satan also scored for Buffalo.
Alexei Yashin countered for the Northeast Division-leading
Senators.
"He was sort of screaming at us a little about the way we
played in the first," said Hasek. "I'm glad we won. Ottawa is No.
1 in our division, so it's a very nice win."
The game pitted one of the conference's top offensive powers,
Ottawa, against the conference's stingiest defense in Buffalo.
Defense won.
Second-year winger Afinogenov lifted a rebound over sprawling
Ottawa goaltender Patrick Lalime.
"Things haven't changed too much when these two teams play ...
good goaltending and solid defense," Ruff said. "We took control
in the second period and I thought they were going to take control
in the third, but we came through."
This was the first of three games between the teams this month.
"It was close and we had some opportunities, especially in the
third period," said Ottawa coach Jacques Martin. "A couple of
mistakes and the puck is in the net."
Satan opened the scoring 1:03 into the second period with his
17th goal. Satan popped the puck past Lalime after Lalime stopped
Stu Barnes and J.P. Dumont.
Yashin, Ottawa's leading scorer, took a pass from Marian Hossa,
went around diving Buffalo defenseman Jay McKee and beat Hasek from
the slot to tie the score. It was Yashin's 24th goal of the season.
"We hit the post twice, but we just weren't lucky," said
Senators forward Andreas Dackell. "Hasek played well, but he was
also lucky with the posts."
Game notes
Ottawa remained one point behind the Eastern
Conference-leading New Jersey Devils. ... Yashin has 14 goals and
eight assists in his past 15 games. ... Ottawa outshot Buffalo
33-23. ... The crowd of 18,500 was the sixth sellout of the season
at the Corel Centre.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Buffalo Clubhouse
Ottawa Clubhouse
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Pittsburgh 5
New Jersey 4
Florida 7
Atlanta 3
Boston 6
Tampa Bay 2
Montreal 5
NY Islanders 3
Buffalo 2
Ottawa 1
Detroit 3
Toronto 3
Columbus 3
Nashville 2
St. Louis 4
Colorado 3
Calgary 4
Vancouver 1
Washington 4
Los Angeles 3
San Jose 3
Chicago 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Patrick Lalime stops the Stu Barnes shot with his head but Miroslav Satan is there for the goal.
avi: 486 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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