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Saturday, Oct. 28 8:00pm ET
Sabres hand 'Hawks fifth straight loss | |||||
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CHICAGO (AP) -- Dominik Hasek faced a struggling offense Saturday night and the results were predictable. "For us it was an important two points. And for me personally, I'd like to get back to .500," Hasek said after stopping 22 shots as the Buffalo Sabres handed the Chicago Blackhawks their fifth straight loss, 3-1. "We didn't give them too many chances, especially in the first two periods. In the third they tried hard, but we had control of the game," Hasek (3-4-1) said. Struggling with a new offense, Chicago had been shut out in two straight games before breaking through on Tony Amonte's second-period goal on a pass from Alex Zhamnov that tied it 1-1. But the Sabres responded quickly with two goals in 56 seconds. Miroslav Satan scored on a rebound 20 seconds after Amonte's goal for a 2-1 lead. Then on a power play, Dave Andreychuk scored following a scrum in front of the net and the Sabres were up two. "It's just one of those goals where I'm just trying to get in front of the net for a screen and I just take a whack at it," Andreychuk said. "It was just a quick shot and Robbie (Tallas) doesn't know where it is and it goes through his legs." With Hasek in goal and the Blackhawks' offense struggling again (Chicago has been outscored 15-4 during the five-game skid) that was plenty, even though the Hawks had an 11-2 advantage in third-period shots. "I'd give him an A-plus," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said of Hasek. "He made three or four really big saves for us. They had their defense pinching, their defense joining in the third period, creating havoc." First-year Hawks coach Alpo Suhonen wouldn't be so generous grading his team. "We fought hard to get back and then we just let it go," a disgusted Suhonen said. "It's unacceptable, there is no excuse for that." J.P. Dumont, traded away by the Blackhawks last March along with Doug Gilmour, staked the Sabres to a 1-0 lead. Situated right in front of the crease, he took Stu Barnes' pass from the left board and easily beat Tallas at 6:27 of the first. "It feels good, especially against Chicago," Dumont said. Game notesHasek is one win shy of 200 with the Sabres. ... Gilmour, with 890 career assists, needs two to pass former Sabres player Dale Hawerchuk for 13th place on the career list. ... Tallas (1-3-0) made his fifth start, one less than starter Jocelyn Thibault. ... The Hawks were 0-for-5 on the power play and are 4-for-44 this season. ... Andreychuk has 555 career goals and is two away from passing John Bucyk for 16th place on the career goals list. ... Hasek got a delay-of-game penalty with 1:17 left for shooting the puck into the crowd. ... Sabres defenseman Alexei Zhitnik returned from a four-game suspension for high-sticking Montreal's Andrei Markov on Oct. 17. He logged 19:39 of ice time. "He was solid," Ruff said. "It was important to get him back in and give us fresh legs." | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Buffalo Clubhouse Chicago Clubhouse RECAPS Toronto 2 Boston 1
Buffalo 3
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