Credit Kolzig
Caps stop Sabres 2-0, stand 1 win from 1st Stanley Cup Finals
Posted: Sunday May 31, 1998 01:30 AM
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Kolzig (right) stopped all 30 Buffalo shots to earn his playoff-high fourth shutout (AP) |
BUFFALO, New York (AP) -- Olaf Kolzig didn't have to be perfect, but he was. Craig Berube didn't expect to score, but he did. And now the Washington Capitals are one win away from the Stanley Cup Finals.
Kolzig made 30 saves and Berube broke a scoreless tie early in the third period to give the Capitals a 2-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night and a 3-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
"I just try to give us a chance to win," said Kolzig, who became the ninth goaltender in NHL playoff history to record four shutouts. "I'm not trying to go out there and pitch a shutout. You need to make big saves when it's 1-0, but you also need to make them when it's 6-5."
Joe Juneau put the Sabres away with 6:22 remaining when he beat Dominik Hasek with a 70-foot slap shot that the goaltender badly misplayed while the Capitals were shorthanded.
Michael Peca (27) buried Sergei Gonchar to the ice, but missed a chance to bury the puck into the net on a rebound in the second period (AP) | |
Berube broke backup goaltender Bill Ranford's mask with a slap shot in the morning practice and was dubbed "Bobby Hull" by his teammates after the former Chicago Blackhawks' star known for his fierce shot. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come.
"Maybe my shot's getting harder," Berube said jokingly.
Berube is known as one of the team's biggest hecklers and he never scored a playoff goal in his 12-year NHL career. In fact, he never had more than eight goals in any one season. But the joke was on the Sabres when Berube scored the biggest goal of his career.
"I really didn't even look," Berube said. "I just shot it as hard as I could, and it went in."
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Hasek and the Sabres have lost three straight for the first time since last season's playoffs (AP) |
With their victory in Game 4, the Capitals have won three straight over the Sabres and can reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their 24-year history with a victory Tuesday night in Washington.
"It's a super feeling," Capitals coach Ron Wilson said. "We take compete control of the series. I'm really proud of our guys. We hung tough."
It marked the first time since the playoffs last year that the Sabres have lost three straight games. They had the NHL's best record (22-10-11) since January 1 and had won eight of nine playoff games going into the series.
If nothing else, the Sabres can take this with them into Game 5: The Capitals have a 2-3 record in series where they have a 3-1 lead, losing twice this decade to Pittsburgh. Buffalo has never come back from a 3-1 series deficit in eight tries.
Berube (left) opened up the scoring when he beat Hasek at 2:34 in the third period () | |
"I hate to bring it up, but they have lost a couple series like this," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's the last straw to pull, but I'm going to pull it."
Game 4 was a matchup of two tight defenses and a goaltending duel between Hasek and Kolzig before Berube broke through moments after Dale Hunter won a faceoff in the Buffalo end. Washington left the rest up to Olie the Goalie.
The Sabres had plenty of scoring chances but capitalized on none. Curtis Brown missed a near-open net after grabbing a rebound in the third period. Michael Peca missed an opportunity in the second period when he was unable to bury a rebound with Kolzig on the ice. And Kolzig made several key saves in the final 10 minutes.
"Olie has been terrific," Capitals defenseman Phil Housley said. "You don't get to where we are without great goaltending. He's been our man. He's been consistent, and he's made big saves at important times."
Buffalo had a power play for 3:03 in the third period after Washington's Peter Bondra was given a double-minor for high-sticking. The Sabres put just one shot on Kolzig.
The Capitals continued to shut down Buffalo's power play in this series. The Sabres came into the series leading playoff teams by scoring on 25 percent of their power plays, but they have been held to just 9 percent (2-of-22) in the four games against Washington.
"This has been our best series in the playoffs," Kolzig said. "I haven't had the workload I had in the first two series, but my job hasn't changed any. I knew Dom was going to be on top of his game. I knew I had to bring my level of play up a little bit."
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NHL Finals
