By Tim Schmitt
Greater Niagara Newspapers
TORONTO
April 01, 2008 11:06 pm
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I’ve never stepped foot inside a boxing ring, but something about Buffalo’s excruciating 4-3 shootout win over the Leafs made me feel like Rocky Balboa climbing off the canvas, bloodied and beaten, just in time to beat a 10 count. We’ll say the Leafs played the part of Apollo Creed, but that’s a slam on Creed, who genuinely put up a fight.
This was not pretty hockey. Again. Buffalo struggled to get good chances on Andrew Raycroft, a goalie trying to get the splinters from of his posterior after spending nearly two months on the pine. Aside from the expected motors (Derek Roy and Jason Pominville), and one surprise (Steve Bernier), the Sabres were again content to simply skate stride-for-stride with a Leafs team that had nothing to play for.
Buffalo lost its focus early — Ryan Miller allowed his league-worst fourth goal in the opening minute — and again late when Thomas Steen stole the momentum.
But Rocky wiped off the snot, pulled hard on the top rope and hopped up on the count of nine one more time.
It probably won’t be enough to get the Sabres into the playoffs, and it’s conceivable they’ll wake up on Thursday officially eliminated, but Tuesday’s game provided a valuable lesson the Sabres keep forgetting:
Work hard, go to the net, and you’ll be rewarded.
For the first time in weeks, Bernier was a factor. He hopped over defensemen, laid some licks on the forecheck and picked up the biggest goal of his season while barreling into Raycroft. This is what a 6-foot-3-inch power forward should do every night, of course, and there’s little proof he’s got the chutzpah to play all out for an entire season. Between his scintillating debut and Tuesday, the Big Bear has been hibernating.
Incredibly, though, Bernier threw six shots on net, blocked a pair of shots, and won some one-on-one battles. It was a good lesson for a guy who has the tools, now needs to find the edge.
Bernier’s inner battle is much like that of the Sabres’ — he wants to be something he’s not. In the past, Buffalo’s offensive surplus allowed a margin of error of one fancy extra pass, one creative move that could have been simplified.
Bernier is good, as are his teammates, but not that good. Keeping it simple is still the right option. At least for now.
Remember, the post-lockout Sabres weren’t instantly an offensive dynamo. It took time to develop offensive chemistry. And this team still has plenty of talent, when it’s working smartly.
While Bernier’s goal was an example of simplicity paying off, Jochen Hecht’s gaffe on Steen’s goal shows what fancy play will do. Hecht had the puck behind the Toronto net with a teammate streaking to the front. Rather than try a simple pass, Hecht tried to bounce it off the back of the net to himself. He wound up tossed to the ice and the Leafs headed the other way.
It’s too late in the season to get cute, and the Sabres keep getting noses smacked for trying it.
In the end, though, the news is good. A team that’s real focus should be next year learned another lesson on winning that it’ll remember in the future.
Contact group sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.
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