Sabres notebook
Brodeur plenty satisfied with a win
New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was 20 minutes from inching closer to yet another milestone Saturday night in HSBC Arena. As it turned out, he was lucky just to get another win.
After facing just 14 shots through two periods, Brodeur needed to make 21 saves in the third period to preserve New Jersey’s 3-2 win that seriously damaged Buffalo’s playoff hopes.
It was Brodeur’s 555th career victory, extending his own NHL record. But it could have been his 102nd career shutout, which would have pulled him one behind NHL legend Terry Sawchuk for the all-time lead.
No problem, said Brodeur. The Devils snapped a six-game losing streak Friday night against Tampa Bay and were just happy to have their game on the upswing again.
“I don’t think much about these things,” Brodeur said. “Throughout my career, if you think about it, it’s like jinxing yourself. It’s like somebody on TV saying I’m going to get a shutout. If I hear him, I’m going to be mad. That’s just the bottom line.
“You don’t want to put pressure [on yourself]. I’m there to win hockey games. If I win a lot, there will be some by shutouts.”
Brodeur made 10 saves in the first period, but five came on one power play. He made four more in the second and then didn’t face a shot over the final 10:19 of the period. But he was plenty busy in the third.
“These guys were desperate. They were fighting for their lives and they came out and threw everything at us,” Brodeur said. “We handled it pretty good. They had a lot of shots but most of them were far pretty far out or in the corners.”
One that was in prime territory was Derek Roy’s near-miss with 1:52 left that could have tied the game. With a yawning net facing him, Roy missed putting home a Jochen Hecht pass and even Brodeur was stunned the game wasn’t tied.
“I didn’t even see him,” Brodeur said. “I can’t believe he missed the net from there. I’m sure he could take another hundred pucks and he would hit the net.
“It was so close to me. I was looking in the corner and five-on-five I didn’t think somebody would be so wide open in front. . . . I never saw him. We got a little lucky there.”
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Detroit legend Steve Yzerman and former Dallas General Manager Doug Armstrong, now the player personnel head for St. Louis, were at the game. They are leaders for Hockey Canada and sources told The Buffalo News that Lindy Ruff is emerging as a leading candidate to coach Team Canada in the world championships that open later this month in Zurich, Switzerland.
Armstrong told the Canadian Press last week he would not discuss names of coaches or players until they’re eliminated from playoff contention but that he’s also considering former Rangers coach Tom Renney, who has international experience.
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In addition to misfiring on what looked like the tying goal, Roy lost back-to-back faceoffs in the final minute when the Sabres were pressing with an extra attacker. Dominic Moore had won 11 of 14 in faceoffs in the game but Ruff opted to stick with Roy. On the first one, Buffalo had possession of the puck but Jaroslav Spacek’s shot was blocked.
“Derek was our second-best faceoff guy [7 of 11 until the last minute], and with our power-play alignment we thought we’d use that,” Ruff said. “I thought we got to it. We didn’t allow them the easy shootout. I thought we were a little hasty.”
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Buffalo forward Patrick Kaleta didn’t play after taking a hard open-ice hit from Mike Mottau in the second period. Ruff said Kaleta, who missed 24 games earlier in the season with neck trouble, was dealing with a migraine.
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