Hasek puts Caps' Stanley Cup hopes on hold

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Posted: Wednesday June 03, 1998 12:33 AM

Washington could not capitalize on many scoring chances despite outshooting Buffalo 35-16 (AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Capitals were at their best Tuesday night. Dominik Hasek was still one better.

"We pretty much dominated the game almost from the start, but we couldn't find a way to score," Capitals coach Ron Wilson said after a 2-1 loss to Buffalo on Tuesday night. The loss left Washington a game short of a trip to the Stanley Cup finals.

How good was Hasek?

"Fantastic," Washington's Adam Oates said of the Sabres' star goaltender. "That's why they're here."

Added Joe Reekie: "I think he proved why he's one of the best goaltenders in the world."

The Capitals outshot the Sabres 35-16, but left the rink a frustrated team because they weren't able to beat Buffalo's star goaltender in crucial situations.

Oates had an open net to shoot at in the second period only to have Hasek stop the puck with his blocker. Oates said the stop "surprised me. I guess I couldn't get it up high enough."

Except for a second-period power-play goal by Andrei Nikolishin, the other Washington players were also having similar bad luck beating "The Dominator."

"It was our best game of the series," Oates said. "It was obviously frustrating, but that's hockey."

There were plenty of close calls for the Capitals, including a shot by Oates they thought had gone over the line with 10:49 to go the third period. No red light went on and referee Terry Gregson went upstairs to the goal judge for a decision.

"Oates thought it was in, but it was inconclusive," Wilson said. "The referee couldn't see if it was in, the goal judge couldn't see it. I support the decision. That is what you have to do. You can't guess that the puck is in."

Thus the Capitals are still one victory away from reaching the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in their 24-year existence. They take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference finals back to Buffalo for Game 6 on Thursday night.

"We had opportunities," Reekie said. "We knew Buffalo wasn't going to quit. We'll just have to go to Buffalo and do what we did here."

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