Wednesday, May 2 7:00pm ET
Three-goal third buries Pens in Game 4
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Mario Lemieux had no shots, Jaromir Jagr had
no impact. Everything went right for the Buffalo Sabres in
Pittsburgh, and now it's the Penguins who are trying to figure out
what's gone wrong.
Stu Barnes had two goals in the third period and Vladimir
Tsyplakov added another as the Sabres, trying to rally from a 2-0
playoff deficit for the first time in their history, beat the
Penguins 5-2 on Wednesday night to even their series.
|  | | Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek made one of his 15 saves on Martin Straka's third-period penalty shot Wednesday night. |
J.P. Dumont scored 1:28 into the game and Curtis Brown
also had a goal as the Sabres won twice in Pittsburgh after being
dominated in two games at home by the Penguins. Just as in their
4-1 victory Monday in Game 3, the Sabres won it with a three-goal
third period.
"We were trying to force things at home, and you can't be
playing run and gun with these guys," Jason Woolley said. "We
were much more patient here and relied on our defense. At home,
you're always trying to put a show on for the fans."
Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series in which the
home team has yet to win will be Saturday in Buffalo, where the
Penguins outscored the Sabres 6-1 in two games last week.
Martin Straka had a goal for Pittsburgh, but was stopped easily
by Dominik Hasek on a penalty shot at 8:07 of the third that would
have tied it at 3.
"What did I do wrong? I should have let Mario (Lemieux) take
the shot," Straka said.
Maybe not -- Lemieux, shadowed as closely as he was in a
scoreless Game 3, didn't manage a shot, though he assisted on both
Penguins goals.
Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff, asked about the impact of Hasek's
penalty shot save, said, "Look up enormous and put it down in your
article."
Barnes, a former Penguins player, had given Buffalo a 3-2 lead
at 4:44, getting free from Ian Moran and Aleksey Morozov in front
of the net just in time to deflect Donald Audette's shot from the
right circle.
Tsyplakov sealed it with a similar goal at 14:24, sweeping by
defenseman Marc Bergevin to put in Vaclav Varada's rebound that
bounced into the slot. Barnes scored again at 18:09, his third of
the playoffs and second of the game.
"We were counting on a good third period. The way we played in
the first two periods showed we were going to have a big 20
minutes," said Hasek, who was convinced the Sabres had begun to
dictate the play in the second period despite allowing Janne
Laukkanen's tying goal.
The series is playing out for the Penguins much like the second
round against Philadelphia last year, when they won twice on the
road, only to lose the next two games at home in overtime. They
never won again, dropping the final four games.
"But this is the same as them winning up there twice and us
winning here twice," Lemieux said. "It's 2-2, and we're still in
pretty good shape."
The Penguins also were 2-2 in their first round series going to
Washington for Game 5, and won the next two games.
"I think we're the better team," Penguins forward Kevin
Stevens said. "I'm still confident, and everybody on this team
should be confident. We won two, they won two."
Any emotional lift Pittsburgh got from NHL scoring champion
Jagr's return from a two-game layoff with a sprained right shoulder
ended with Dumont's early goal, and Jagr did not supply the
offensive jolt the Penguins hoped for.
Jagr skated freely and said he didn't get a pain-killing shot in
his sore shoulder, but had trouble controlling the puck when
closely covered. He didn't have any good scoring chances,
registering one shot on goal.
The Sabres twice took one-goal leads with the help of Pittsburgh
mistakes.
Dumont gave Buffalo a lead it never lost, swinging the puck out
from behind the net and putting a seemingly harmless shot toward
the side of the net that slid under rookie goalie Johan Hedberg's
stick. Hedberg came in with a 1.52 goals against average that was
the best in the playoffs.
"That was a bad goal," Hedberg said.
However, Alexei Zhitnik was called for cross-checking Rene
Corbet in front of the net at the end of a play later in the
period. Straka capitalized by one-timing Lemieux's pass under
Hasek's stick from the blue line at 9:10 -- only the second Penguins
power-play goal in 15 chances in the series.
Zhitnik put Pittsburgh on the power play again late in the
period, but it was the Sabres who wound up scoring. Alexei
Kovalev's pass was picked off in the neutral zone, allowing Curtis
Brown and Miroslav Satan to work a 2-on-1 break that ended with
Brown's fourth goal of the playoffs.
Game notes
Straka was 1-for-3 on penalty shots during the season. It
was the fourth penalty shot in Penguins playoff history, and the
third misfire. The only goal was by Jagr against the Rangers on May
11, 1992. ... The Penguins have lost six of their last eight home
playoff games and have dropped six consecutive Game 4s. ... Buffalo
is 4-1 on the road in the playoffs, as is Pittsburgh. ... Buffalo
is 0-15 when trailing 2-0 in a series.
 Send this story to a friend
|
|
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Buffalo Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Sabres-Penguins Series Page
RECAPS
Buffalo 5
Pittsburgh 2
Colorado 3
Los Angeles 0
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Dominik Hasek denies Martin Straka on the penalty shot.
avi: 1904 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Stu Barnes scores his second goal of the game on the power-play wrister.
avi: 1025 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Vladimir Tsyplakov trails the play and stuffs home the loose puck.
avi: 1154 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Stu Barnes banks the Donald Audette rebound off the post for a Buffalo goal.
avi: 1040 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Janne Laukkanen takes advantage of the four-on-four and scores on the slapper.
avi: 819 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Curtis Brown and Miroslav Satan work the give-and-go for a shorthanded goal.
avi: 1192 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Martin Straka rifles a slapper from the blue line past Dominik Hasek.
avi: 1206 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Buffalo's J.P. Dumont beats Johan Hedberg on the wrap-around.
avi: 934 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
 Stu Barnes is excited to tie the series and return to Buffalo.
wav: 323 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
