| PHOTO OF THE DAY |
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Buffalo's Maxim Afinogenov watches Daniel Briere's overtime shot tumble in the air past Carolina's Cam Ward for the winning goal.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
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"We're facing an elimination game, which a lot of guys have never been in. I'm curious to see how they'll handle it. You note their mentality. Are they going after it? Are they fearless? Are they aggressive? Are they on their toes or on their heels? My job is to get them on their toes. Fall face-first into the floor. Don't fall over backwards."
-- Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff
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GAME BREAKERS
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Daniel Briere (BUF):
OT winner, 1 assist
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Ryan Miller (BUF):
25 saves, 1 GA
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Mike Grier (BUF):
8 hits
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TODAY'S SCHEDULE
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RECENT EDITIONS
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| Tuesday, May 30, 2006 |
| Friday, May 26, 2006 |
| Thursday, May 25, 2006 |
| Wednesday, May 24, 2006 |
| Tuesday, May 23, 2006 |
| Monday, May 22, 2006 |
| Friday, May 19, 2006 |
| Thursday, May 18, 2006 |
| Wednesday, May 17, 2006 |
| Monday, May 15, 2006 |
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We hope you enjoyed the Buffalo Sabres' 2-1 overtime victory Tuesday in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoff Eastern Conference Final. Sports events don't get any better, any tenser than that.
Your guess is as good as mine regarding a prediction whether the Carolina Hurricanes or Buffalo Sabres will face the Edmonton Oilers Monday in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. It's been that way throughout what has proven to be the most unpredictable and exciting Stanley Cup Playoff in history.
In history, you say? Isn't that a bit strong? Overly given to superlatives?
Not really. It's been extremely unpredictable, especially when you consider the Oilers are the first No. 8 seed ever to win a conference semifinal series, let alone a conference final. Both No. 1 seeds were gone by the end of the second round. The best regular-season team, the Detroit Red Wings, exited in six games in Round One.
You can't question the level of excitement, not when you consider that last night's 2-1 Buffalo victory marked the first time in Stanley Cup Playoff history that two consecutive games in a series have ended with power-play goals in overtime.
Two Buffalo fans summed it up for Buffalo News sportswriter T.J. Pignataro:
"After what happened in Carolina (in Game Five), I was really, really nervous," said Doug Stoll of Lockport, N.Y.
"I had about four heart attacks," said Brian Pyrkos of Cheektowaga, N.Y.
This writer gets hammered at work and at home because of his disdain for soccer (good exercise, though, for getting in shape for real sports. God gave me hands for a reason or many reasons). So, between J.P. Dumont's goal for Buffalo at 4:56 of the first period and Bred Hedican's tying goal for Carolina with 3:53 remaining in regulation time, I was subjected to my son's taunting.
"Hey, Pop, aren't you the one always complaining about soccer games with "insurmountable one-goal leads?"
"Yeah, yeah, but this is hockey, a better game. Look, Kaberle just knocked down a clearing attempt with his hand!"
When these playoffs are over, the couch is going to need re-upholstering on the front of the seat. The back, where you're supposed to sit, is fine. No wear at all this past month.
In the first five minutes, the Sabres looked like they were playing against a shorthanded PeeWee team. Carolina was getting swarmed by a desperate home team and just tried to hold on defensively. In the long run, it worked. It was a miracle they got out of the first period, trailing only 1-0.
When a friend suggested that Buffalo would run Carolina right out of the HSBC Arena, I warned, "Watch out for the coffee high." Think about those times when three cups of coffee in the morning help you produce a mountain of work, but you're exhausted by noon. Desperate hockey teams often give everything they've got early and then finish on fumes, like Danica Patrick a year ago in the Indy 500. Or George Foreman against Ali in Zaire.
Sure enough, Carolina had the edge in play in the second period. Then Buffalo imposed its defensive will for the first 16 minutes of the third period. It took a brilliant shot by Bret Hedican across Ryan Miller's body into the uppermost left corner of the net to tie the game. Everyone was looking for a slap shot and he threw the changeup, a beautifully accurate wrist shot from inside the left point.
The drama of Daniel Briere's winning goal was the perfect finish. Briere got a shot off from point-blank range, but Carolina's Cam Ward had unbelievably stopped a half-dozen of those kind of shots. Ward got a glove on the puck and it popped in the air above him.
Ward reached back into the net and swept the puck out but it was a goal and Maxim "Rip Van Winkle" Afinogenov was standing beside the net and knew it, jumping in the air in jubilation. If Afinogenov wakes up from his eight-game scoreless streak in Game 7, it could tilt the ice Buffalo's way.
Dumont certainly knows the feeling of redemption this morning. He hadn't scored in seven games and was in the penalty box when Cory Stillman scored in overtime to win Game 5.
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The last two games are probably the best two back-to-back games in the Stanley Cup Playoff since April 26-28, 2004 in the San Jose Sharks-Colorado Avalanche Western Conference Semifinal series. San Jose won the first two games at home. Vinnie Damphousse scored at 8:59 of the third period in Game 3 in Denver's Pepsi Center, off assists from Scott Hannan and Patrick Marleau, to put San Jose up, 3-0, in the series. San Jose's Evgeny Nabokov made 33 saves while Colorado's David Aebischer made 17.
Two nights later, Joe Sakic scored at 5:15 of overtime, off an assist from Bob Boughner, to keep Colorado alive. Nabokov had 35 saves and Aebischer, 27. Back in San Jose for Game 5, Sakic scored again in overtime to give the Avs a 2-1 win. San Jose then won Game 6 in Denver.
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They were doing a brief feature on Ryan Miller on OLN last night and you couldn't help but notice the eyes, nervous goalies' eyes. Miller is a rookie, but his family, the first family of Michigan (State) hockey has been through this before and Ryan knows what to expect. He's pleasant and concise in dealing with the media and very pleasant when hailed by fans.
He's a rare combination of Emily Post's manners and Charlie Manson's eyes.
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I didn't realize Buffalo was a bilingual city until I saw the boards at HSBC Arena had ads for both Tim Horton's and Dunkin' Donuts. Timbits are great, but nobody does Boston Cremes like Dunks.
