Sabres storm back to upend Penguins
Published: January 04, 2010, 2:12 pm
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Drew Stafford figured two things would allow him to break out of his slump, one that had gotten so bad he was benched for the better part of two games. First, the Buffalo Sabres' right winger needed an opportunity. Then, when it came, he had to be ready.
Stafford's opportunity arose Tuesday. He was ready.
Stafford's comeback sparked a rally by the Sabres, who erased a three-goal deficit to thrill the HSBC Arena crowd and stun the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3. It was the first time the Sabres trailed by three and won since a 5-4 shootout win against Dallas last January.
Stafford, who had gone 15 games without a goal, scored the Sabres' first two and set up the tying goal midway through the third period. Jason Pominville completed the comeback on the power play with 9:05 to play.
"Benching a player is never easy. At the same time, it's all about what you come back with," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "I think that's the type of player he can be. We just need that every night. I heard him say, "I'm really motivated.' You've got to stay motivated without being benched. That's a hard lesson. But I think his answer was a quality response to that situation."
The Sabres were in a 3-0 deficit when opportunity knocked for Stafford. He was picked to take a penalty shot with 7:14 left in the second, awarded when old friend Jay McKee gathered the puck in the crease to prevent Buffalo from scoring.
Stafford made it look easy, shooting between Marc-Andre Fleury's skates as the netminder barely flinched.
"It doesn't come down to a penalty shot too often to break a slump," Stafford said. "You couldn't really set it up any better for me there. I was a little nervous before that, but I realized, "What a great opportunity. Here it is. It's laying right in front of me.' You don't get too many of those. It's just a matter of being ready for it and taking advantage of the opportunity."
Stafford, who hadn't scored since Nov. 27, got his second just 2:09 later. Fleury stopped Stafford's first shot, but the winger went backhand-forehand to get past the goalie and dump the puck in the deserted net.
The Sabres tied the game with 12:32 left. Paul Gaustad scored, but it was again Stafford who made the play. He streaked wide to get around defenseman Alex Goligoski, then cut inside to elude Sergei Gonchar. Gaustad backhanded the cross-crease pass to get the 18,690 to scream "Goose" and "Drew."
They roared louder three minutes later. Pominville worked a give-and-go with Tim Connolly to get open on the doorstep, and Fleury had no chance at the top-shelf tally.
While Stafford responded to his benching, the rest of the Sabres reacted to Ryan Miller's early exit. He allowed three goals on 11 shots and was yanked with 1:28 gone in the second.
"We didn't help him out at all," Pominville said. "It's unfortunate. He's been there for us. He's kept us in a lot of games, but tonight we just didn't help him and didn't play well enough in the first."
It was the second time this season Miller's night ended early. He left during the second period of a 5-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Oct. 31 after allowing three goals on 16 shots.
Miller tested his throwing arm after Tuesday's departure. First, his stick went flying down the hallway. His blocker followed. Finally, his mask went crashing to the ground.
"When you pull a goalie you try to take the emotion out of it," Ruff said. "It's just my evaluation that maybe the other guy is going to give us a better chance."
Lalime responded with the spark for which Ruff was searching. He made 18 saves in the second period and finished by stopping all 27 attempts by the Penguins.
"You just try to change things up," Lalime said. "It seemed like we had no emotion. We had nothing going on. Give credit to everybody who came back and played well."
The Sabres ring in the new year Friday at home with a game against the Atlanta Thrashers. They're leaving 2009 with a couple of emotion-lifting comebacks.
"More importantly for me is just coming back with this win after the start we had," Stafford said. "Patty coming and playing well for us, the power play getting us the game-winner again ... it's a good feeling in here."
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