| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
BOSTON (AP) -- Dominik Hasek got plenty of help from J.P. Dumont
in recording his latest shutout.
|  | | Jean-Pierre Dumont scored the game's only three goals. |
Hasek stopped 22 shots for his third shutout of the season and
48th of his career and Dumont scored all three of Buffalo's goals
to lead the Sabres to a 3-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on
Tuesday night.
"The important thing was how he responded from a poor game in
New York," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of Hasek's 5-2 loss to the
Rangers last Friday. "They scored five goals on him, but he made
three or four tough saves in the first period and he wasn't tested
often after that."
It was only the 12th time in NHL history that one player scored
all the goals in a 3-0 game. Edmonton's Ryan Smyth did it earlier
this season and is the only person to have accomplished it twice.
Dumont's power-play goal at 3:25 of the second period gave the
Sabres a 1-0 lead. He took a pass from Maxim Afinogenov and beat
goalie Peter Skudra from in front of the net. It was Buffalo's first score at the FleetCenter in 238 minutes, 18 seconds, a span
of nearly four games.
The Sabres won for the fourth time in five games and earned
their first victory at Boston since Dec. 12, 1998.
The Bruins fell to 6-5-3-2 at home, and have failed to win
consecutive games at the FleetCenter since Oct. 26, Mike Keenan's
debut as Boston's coach. The team hasn't put together back-to-back
victories since Oct. 11, the fourth game of the season.
"This team hasn't matured as a group and gained the confidence
to play against any team on their terms," Keenan said.
Dumont scored his team-leading 12th goal of the season 2:07 into
the third when he slipped a backhander through Skudra's legs.
Keenan immediately pulled Skudra in favor of rookie Andrew
Raycroft.
Dumont, who has accounted for the team's past five goals, added
an empty-net goal with two seconds left for his second career hat
trick. His first came April 8, 1999, against the Rangers.
"It feels much better tonight than scoring two goals and losing
like what happened the other night against the Rangers," Dumont
said. "Also, Dominik's shutout was big for him and for us."
Boston had several quality scoring opportunities late in the
third period, but Hasek stopped Bill Guerin's one-timer from the
slot with 7:15 left and turned back Brian Rolston with less than
six minutes remaining.
"He made the saves he had to make," said Boston forward Dixon
Ward, a former teammate of Hasek's. "He played real solid and
didn't give us anything. We just can't leave anything in our zone
and we did. We have to find a way to get it past him and we didn't
do that tonight."
Hasek improved to 12-9-2 and posted his first shutout in 11
games since blanking the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils
in back-to-back games in mid-November.
The Buffalo defense held the Bruins to 13 shots over the final
two periods and the Sabres didn't allow a shot on goal during a
six-minute stretch early in the third.
Skudra started his 10th straight game in place of Byron Dafoe
(knee) and made 21 saves before he was lifted for Raycroft, who
stopped all six shots he faced.
Game notes
Buffalo C Doug Gilmour has missed the last eight games with
a pelvic injury and might return Friday against Carolina. ...
Forward Bill Guerin has eight goals in 13 games since being traded
to Boston. ... Boston D Darren Van Impe returned after missing five
games with a knee strain. ... Raycroft was sent to Providence (AHL)
Saturday and recalled Monday. ... Bruins D Pavel Kolarik was also
recalled Tuesday, but was scratched. ... The Sabres rank 14th in
the league in penalty killing, but are 47-of-50 over their last
five games.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Buffalo Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Buffalo 3
Boston 0
Philadelphia 2
Nashville 2
Washington 3
NY Islanders 2
San Jose 3
NY Rangers 2
|
