From: hammerl@acsu.buffalo.edu (Valerie S. Hammerl)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey
Subject: Boston/Buffalo summary and comments
Date: 16 Dec 92 19:34:35 GMT
Organization: UB

I'm in a journalistic mood, so bear with me.  Below is a game
summary, followed by personal comments.

The last time the Sabres set foot in Boston Garden, it was a 
seventh game loss in the first round of the playoffs, and the 
reason for the loss was listed as inferior goaltending.

An off-season trade with Chicago via Winnipeg brought Dominik Hasek 
to the Sabres, as part of the solution to the goaltending puzzle.
Last night, it looked like the missing puzzle piece last season 
had been filled.

Stopping 48 of 50 shots, Dominik Hasek put on the performance of 
his life, stonewalling the Bruins throughout the first and for most 
of the game.  Neither team thought it would be easy, but Boston 
was hungry for a win after two losses to Buffalo at the Aud and 
coming off a loss to the Canadiens.  The Bruins played a strong 
game, controlling the puck and keeping it in the Sabres' zone for
most of the game.  The hard part was getting it past Hasek.

The two Boston goals came when the Buffalo goaltender was out of 
position, opting to take an active role in the game to compensate
for poor defensive play by his teammates, who seemed unable to 
clear the puck.  When he was in his usual position, he was perfect.
Unorthodox, certainly.  

At the other end of the ice, Andy Moog looked bored.  When play did
shift to his end, he looked stale, not seeing several missed shots 
and not realizing they were past him until the puck clanged off the
boards or the post.  Shots went behind his legs, only to emerge on
the other side of the crease.  

Still, the chances were almost half of those that the Bruins had.  
It took a breakaway by Alexander Mogilny and his patented shot 
through the five hole to break the 2-2 tie late in the third, and 
the credit for two of the Sabre goals went in large part to the work 
of Randy Wood and Doug Bodger.  Bodger sent Mogilny the pass that 
proved to be the gamewinner, while Wood's shot rebounded onto the 
stick of Yuri Khmylev.  Wood also scored an empty net goal, but it 
came after the whistle blew for offsetting penalties, which inclu-
ded putting Adam Oates in the penalty box.

Despite outworking the Sabres in both shots and puck control, the 
Bruins didn't score until the second period, when Steve Heinze 
shot the puck past a poorly positioned Hasek.  Featherstone and 
Poulin assisted.  The Bruins came back  again to tie the score 
early in the third, when the Bruins' Panteleyev (sic) collected 
his wits after being checked into the boards, got to his skates, 
and tapped the puck into the net while Hasek was out on the right 
side of the net.  It wasn't enough, and Buffalo achieved a rare 
road win, 3-2.


------------personal comments.------------------------------------

-The score could easily have been far worse if Hasek hadn't played 
 the strongest game I've ever seen him play.

-It could have also been a shutout for Hasek if he didn't wander 
 so much.

-Andy Moog was having an off night, probably due to a low number
 of shots.  The Sabres played ineffectively much of the time, and
 didn't show much life until the third period.

-Buffalo's scoring came from just one line.

-The Bruins looked frustrated by the third.

-The Bruins owned, dominated, and controlled the second period, 
 outshooting Buffalo 23-9, but could only score once.

-The way the Sabres (Hasek excluded) played, the score could have 
 easily been 8-3.

-I still think Hasek is the strongest of Buffalo's three goaltenders 
 and did a pretty good job of proving me right last night.  I don't
 care if he plays orthodox goaltending in any recognized style, if
 he plays laying on the ice half the time, or if he plays in fuzzy
 bunny slippers (he doesn't, but you get the idea).  If he stops the
 puck, that's what counts.  

-The Bruins aren't going to forget this next time the two teams meet, 
 look for another solid Bruin effort.

-The Sabres are still road chumps, they just found goaltending when
 they really needed it.

-Wayne Presley does not perform well on the Hawerchuk line.  Thomas
 fit in better, and that line with both of them and Brad May was
 initially assembled during training camp.  Dismantling it was a
 bad move on Muckler's part.



SIDE NOTE:  I will not be able to access my account from Friday,
December 18 to Monday, January 4, due to a university shutdown.
I do not own my own computer (the money I was saving up for that
will be given to my rheumatologist in January and forthcoming 
months) and while our system will remain up, I will not be able
to read mail or news or anything else.  Any mail will sit here
waiting for my return, until my quota exceeds itself.  

ALSO:  If I do find employment, I will lose my four university
accounts, but will still have an account on the Cleveland Free-Net and
a test account on the Buffalo Free-Net.  I do not have a computer,
which makes using them a little more difficult, but the money I'd
saved for that will be going to my rheumatologist this January and in
the coming months, so I'll have to make do.

Thanks.

-- 
Valerie Hammerl 	       John Sr. would lift Pat over the boards, grab 
hammerl@acsu.buffalo.edu       his hand, and start running around the outside,
V085PWPZ@UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU  faster and faster.  "I wanted to learn how to 
get that feeling, and the only way was to learn how to skate."  P. LaFontaine
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey