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Sabres rattle in four quick goals to edge out Hurricanes

Posted on: Thursday, 25 May 2006, 00:10 CDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Daniel Briere scored twice to help lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-3 home victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday, a win that gives the hosts a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference finals series.

The Sabres racked up four straight goals in less than 14 minutes from late in the first period to midway through the second to chase Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward out of the game, while Ryan Miller's 24-save effort at the other end secured the win.

Buffalo hosts Game Four of the best-of-seven on Friday.

The victory came on the back of an improved performance by the Sabres, who were heavily criticized by coach Lindy Ruff for poor preparation in their Game Two loss.

"It was a much better effort, we came back much stronger," Briere told reporters.

"We showed them what we have and we built up the momentum."

Buffalo had the edge for most of the game, but the injury-riddled Sabres appeared to sag in the third period before closing out the win.

"It's tough sometimes when you have a two or three goal lead to keep the intensity up," Briere admitted.

"Overall we're very happy with our win."

Cory Stillman opened the scoring for the Hurricanes with an unassisted goal at 14:07 of the opening period, but the Sabres took advantage of several powerplays to take control with their four-goal salvo.

Chris Drury tied the game on a powerplay with just 30 seconds left in the opening period before Briere went to work early in the second period, giving the Sabres the lead for good.

WARD WITHDRAWN

Briere scored on another powerplay 1:02 into the second period and again at even strength at 8:28 to make it 3-1, much to the delight of the sell-out crowd at HSBC Arena.

A little over four minutes later, Ales Kotalik gave Buffalo a three-goal cushion, forcing Carolina to remove rookie Ward, whose sensational play has helped the Hurricanes reach to the East finals.

Ward was replaced by Martin Gerber, who made two key saves during a Carolina powerplay late in the period to keep the game close.

Stillman gave the Hurricanes some hope with his second goal of the game and sixth of the playoffs at 18:18, but the Sabres turned in a strong defensive performance for most the third period, limiting Carolina's scoring chances.

Eric Staal pulled the Hurricanes back to within a goal on a powerplay with 4:08 remaining, but the Sabres managed to survive a determined Carolina attack with Gerber on the bench for an extra attacker in the last 90 seconds to hold on for the victory.

Buffalo out-shot the Hurricanes 33-27, including 29-16 over the first two periods, but the Hurricanes dominated late in the third, out-shooting the Sabres 11-4.

It was just the second loss on the road in six post-season games for Carolina, while the Sabres improved to 5-1 at home in the playoffs.

(Writing by Roger Lajoie in Toronto)

Source: REUTERS

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