Lydman helps Sabres catch a break
Defenseman nets shootout winner in critical contest
MONTREAL — It's a good thing Lindy Ruff has a long memory. Otherwise, the Buffalo Sabres might be six points out of a playoff spot instead of four.
The Sabres' coach dug into the recesses of his brain Saturday night, searching for a little nugget that might put his team up on the Montreal Canadiens. The teams had gone through 65 minutes of hockey and five rounds of a shootout without deciding a winner.
That's when Ruff thought back to May 2006 and Game Five of the Eastern Conference finals. Toni Lydman scored on a breakaway in that game. None of the regulars had found success Saturday, so Ruff decided to give Lydman a chance nearly three years in the making.
The defenseman made it pay off. Lydman scored the only goal of the extra session, goaltender Ryan Miller stopped all six Canadiens shooters, and Buffalo left Bell Centre with a 4-3 victory and a crucial extra point.
The teams knew the stakes coming in. The eighth-place Canadiens entered the night with a five-point lead on the 10th-place Sabres. The ideal scenario for Buffalo would have been to win in regulation, earning two points while depriving Montreal of any, but leaving town with one extra point was good enough.
"We were well aware of what tonight could mean," Miller said. "It could mean the end of our realistic chances of making up the ground, or it could put us right in the mix."
The Sabres trail Montreal by four points with seven games remaining, while ninth-place Florida sits three points ahead.
The Sabres are off until Wednesday, when they begin their unenviable end-of-season challenge. They play their final seven games in just 11 days, starting with a visit to the Atlanta Thrashers.
But at least they settled into their off days with Lydman's goal fresh in their minds. The defenseman, who will never be confused with Bobby Orr, connected on the first regular-season shootout attempt of his life. His shot slipped through Carey Price's pads, making him an unlikely sniper.
"When I heard my name, I said, "OK, I'm shooting. I'm not trying anything fancy.' It worked," Lydman said. "So I'm 100 percent."
It's a good thing Miller was, too. By stoning every Hab, he gave Lydman the chance to rock.
"He had to be the difference by the time the end of the night came around," Ruff said of his goaltender, who made 32 saves. "To do what he did in the shootout, that's a big point for us."
Things started well for the Sabres, who opened with a 2-0 lead.
Adam Mair was healthy enough to return after missing five games with a knee injury, and although Ruff usually doesn't make lineup changes after a victory, he did Saturday. The coach inserted Mair for Maxim Afinogenov, and the swap paid off with the game's first goal.
Mair planted himself at the top of the crease and deflected Jochen Hecht's slap pass by Price with 2:25 left in the first period.
The Sabres doubled their lead early in the second on the power play. Mike Komisarek's weak clearing pass landed on the stick of Tim Connolly, and the center ripped a slap shot to run his goal streak to three games.
Then the train came.
The Canadiens celebrate their goals while a Via Rail train whistle blares, and it went off three times in 7:16.
The Sabres, though, came out of the second intermission energized. Less than four minutes in, the energy resulted in a tie game.
Price made a toe save on Jason Pominville, and the puck slid to a wide-open Clarke MacArthur. His 15th goal had the bench back on its feet.
Lydman and Miller followed by giving the team its first three-game winning streak since Jan. 19.
"There was a lot of talk in the locker room about not quitting and going out and having our best 20, and I thought we came out and had a pretty good 20 minutes," Connolly said. "We had a few chances to win it in regulation, but overall you've got to be happy with the effort."
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