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Returning Sabres Key Win Over Devils

Ales Kotalik and Daniel Paille returned tonight for the Buffalo Sabres after missing significant time due to injuries (knee and finger respectively). Both scored the goals in the third period to lead the Sabres to a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils at HSBC Arena.

The first period didn’t see much action with no scoring or penalties.

The lone highlight was a breakaway stop by goalie Ryan Miller. Devils forward Eric Rasmussen stole the puck from Brian Campbell in the Sabres end of the ice, and earned a good chance on net. Miller quickly stacked the pads, blocking any spot for the puck to go.

Jochen Hecht opened the scoring for Buffalo 1:55 into the second period. An odd-man rush into the New Jersey zone allowed for good puck movement and Jason Pominville to find Hecht open at the left point. The German ripped a slap shot that Adam Mair may have tipped, but either way it got by Martin Brodeur.

Later in the period a 4-on-4 situation arose with coinciding penalties going out to Daniel Paille and David Clarkson. New Jersey tied the game when Scott Gomez cleaned up a big rebound from a Patrik Elias shot.

The score remained tied at one heading into the second intermission.

Paille gave Buffalo the lead 7:25 into the period. Adam Mair setup the play with a long slap shot that Brodeur stopped with his blocker. However, the goalie left the rebound out in front, which the rookie easily put in. On the shift Derek Roy centered a line of Adam Mair and Daniel Paille, a changeup from the usual fourth line.

The Sabres took a commanding 3-1 lead when Hecht scored again courtesy of a highlight-reel move by Daniel Briere. The speedy co-captain put a sensational deke on Brian Rafalski while rushing up the left side. This caused the other defender to slide towards Briere, who backhanded the puck to Hecht on the open side of the net.

Miller looked to be in control when he stopped a point blank slap shot from Travis Zajac with a quick glove.

But the Devils refused to give up, as Paul Martin scored a goal on what didn’t seem like a great scoring opportunity. The defenseman entered the zone alone with two Buffalo defensemen marking him, but he let out a quick backhand that seemed to surprise Miller and beat him blocker side.

So with 6:11 remaining, the Devils trailed by only a goal.

Kotalik scored what turned out to be the game-winner on a great play by Dainius Zubrus, who played his best overall game in a Sabres uniform. Chris Drury blocked a shot to create the three-on-two rush that Zubrus led down the right boards. Rather than hitting the defenseman crashing the net, Zubrus put a pass right on Kotalik’s stick across the ice for a perfect one-timer.

New Jersey scored a goal with two seconds left, but it was too little, too late.

Ryan Miller looked very sharp in the game stopping 28 shots, while Martin Brodeur seemed to have an off night stopping only 19. The Jersey netminder also struggled to play several pucks behind his own net, a skill where Brodeur is widely regarded as the best in NHL history.

Daniel Paille only played 6:51 in his first game back, while Ales Kotalik played 16:52.

The Sabres face the New York Islanders at home on Friday. The win gives first place Buffalo 105 points in the standings and a nice boost over New Jersey (98 points). The Sabres have six games left to play.

Lines

Buffalo kept the first line the same with Hecht/Briere/Pominville

The Roy line also stayed the same, with Vanek/Roy/Stafford

The Drury line looked complete for the first time this season, lining up Kotalik/Drury/Zubrus. This line is going to be a lot more efficient down the stretch.

The fourth line consisted of Peters/Mair/Paille and didn’t play a whole lot with the game being close.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2007 at 12:35 am and is filed under Game stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.