Saturday May 23 7:30pm
Goals should be at a premium tonight when the Buffalo Sabres bring the game's best goaltender -- Dominik Hasek -- into Game One of the Eastern Conference finals against the game's hottest netminder -- Olaf Kolzig -- and the Washington Capitals.
Hasek almost singlehandedly carried the underdog Czech Republic to the gold medal at the Nagano Olympics, recorded a stunning 13 shutouts during the regular season and is a candidate to become the first goaltender to win consecutive Hart Trophies as National Hockey League MVP.
"The Dominator" has stopped 334 of 353 shots in the playoffs, although he has yet to live up to his nickname. Still, Hasek, who had never won a postseason series before this year, has won eight of nine playoff games. Behind him and a rejuvenated power play, the Sabres have reached the conference finals for the first time since 1980.
It's been eight years since Washington's only appearance in the conference finals. The Capitals are back largely because of Kolzig, who outperformed Hasek over the first two rounds with an 8-3 record, three shutouts, a 1.82 goals-against average and .953 save percentage
The play of Kolzig has overshadowed the fact that Washington has failed to outshoot a single opponent in the playoffs. Against Ottawa in the five-game conference semifinals, the Capitals outscored the Senators, 18-7, despite getting outshot, 168-90. In Game Four, Washington was outshot by a stunning 36-11 margin but came away with a 2-0 victory. Kolzig made it two straight shutouts in Game Five and will carry a scoreless streak of 149 minutes, six seconds into this series.
Buffalo also has rediscovered its power play, scoring at least one goal with the man advantage in each of the last eight games. The Sabres are clicking at a playoff-best 25 percent on the power play after entering the postseason in an 0-for-29 funk.
Washington is right behind Buffalo, ranking second in the playoffs at 19.4 percent. But while the Sabres are second in penalty-killing at 93.2 percent, the Capitals are in the middle of the pack at just under 85 percent.
The Sabres are getting contributions from virtually everyone and coach Lindy Ruff knows things are going well when Matthew Barnaby is his leading scorer. Barnaby recorded a hat trick in Game Two against Montreal and has five goals and five assists in the playoffs after totaling five goals in 72 regular-season games. He is one of nine players with at least two postseason goals for Buffalo.
The teams split four meetings during the regular season with the Sabres scoring 12 goals and the Caps 11. This is the first meeting between the teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
