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  Saturday, Mar. 4 1:00pm ET
Penalty shot opens door for Isles
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- After missing most of the season with a groin injury, Dominik Hasek is not quite The Dominator yet.

Hasek allowed two goals to Dave Scatchard and a penalty shot goal to Olli Jokinen as the New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Saturday.

Kevin Weekes and Miroslav Satan
Islanders goalie Kevin Weekes kept Miroslav Satan's Sabres off balance all afternoon.
"It was surprising, but they were four good goals he gave up," Islander goalie Kevin Weekes said. "Everybody knows what he means to his team, to the league and to the game itself. People like him, Patrick Roy and Grant Fuhr don't come around very often. They've laid the groundwork for young goalies."

Weekes sparkled in net for the Islanders, who won for the first time in six games, by stopping 28 shots. Hasek made 21 saves.

Buffalo's Vladimir Tsyplakov scored the first of his two goals and third in two games to open the scoring at 12:15 when he tipped in Vaclav Varada's centering pass.

Scatchard tied the game at 13:40 on a similar set up from Jokinen.

"I like playing with Scatch because we both play a simple game," Jokinen said. "We're both big, and we go into the corners."

Referee Paul Stewart called a penalty shot for Buffalo's leading goal scorer, Miroslav Satan at 17:58 when he was knocked down by Mathieu Biron. Weekes had to do very little, as Biron shot just wide.

"It was a relief, but I've been through this before," Weekes said. "This was only the second penalty shot of my NHL career. Paul Kariya beat me quickly and painlessly. But I spent a few years in the IHL where the shootout is used, so I just tried to recall those situations and act accordingly."

About 90 seconds later, Weekes was credited with a shot on Hasek, as he directly cleared the puck during an Islanders penalty. It was the first shot registered for an Islander goaltender since Kelly Hrudey picked up one on Nov. 23, 1988 at Washington.

In the second period, Sean Haggerty scored his first NHL goal at 1:44 on a rebound, and then at 3:09, Stewart again signaled a penalty shot, this time for Jokinen, who was dragged down by Alexei Zhitnik. Jokinen went straight at Hasek before moving to his backhand and finding a gap between the goalie's outstretched left pad and the right post.

"That's the only move I have," Jokinen joked said. "I was pretty certain (Stewart) would call it, especially after they got one. I talked to Kevin and he said that I knew what I had to do."

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said the penalty shots were the turning point of the game.

"We didn't score on our penalty shot and they scored on theirs, and that was the difference," Ruff said. "Jokinen gets one for them, and our best goal scorer didn't score on ours."

Scatchard made it 4-1 for New York at 14:24 when he banged a rebound past Hasek. Tsyplakov scored for Buffalo 19 seconds later on a second rebound attempt.

Jokinen has four goals in his last five games, including a pair of shorthanded goals.

The loss left Buffalo tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference with Montreal, but the Canadiens and eighth-place Pittsburgh each have two games in hand. The first eight teams make the playoffs.

"It's obviously disappointing," Sabres captain Michael Peca said. "It's a game we needed, but not only did we need the two points, we needed to see what type of response we'd get after being down two goals to the Rangers a few nights ago. And we didn't come out the way we needed to."

 


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RECAPS
NY Islanders 4
Buffalo 2

Philadelphia 3
Boston 0

Ottawa 3
Atlanta 2

Toronto 4
Montreal 3

St. Louis 1
Florida 1

Pittsburgh 3
Edmonton 2

Colorado 4
Tampa Bay 1

Vancouver 4
New Jersey 2

Los Angeles 3
Nashville 2

Carolina 5
San Jose 2