| | BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo Sabres goaltender Dominik Hasek is without a starting job -- at least for now.
The Sabres sent their struggling goaltender to the bench after
one period in a loss to the Nashville Predators and have decided to
leave him there awhile.
| |  | | | Hasek |
Third-string goalie Martin Biron played the entire game in a 7-3 win over Carolina on
Friday, and how long Hasek remains idle depends on the 22-year-old Biron's performance.
"If Marty plays unbelievable and wins games, he's going to
play," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Thursday. "That turns up the
competition level, too. The team needs that fire right now."
Hasek admitted he was lacking intensity after he allowed two
goals in the first period including one at 46 seconds in a 4-3 loss
to the Predators on Wednesday night. Backup Dwayne Roloson gave up
two more goals in the second.
"It just doesn't seem that our goaltenders are on top of their
game," Ruff said.
Hasek vowed to work hard to win his job back and end his slump.
"I have to solve it," he said. "I have to play better."
The Sabres called up Biron from the team's AHL affiliate in
Rochester, N.Y., where he has won all six of his starts this
season. "I was surprised and happy at the same time," Biron said.
The wiry and acrobatic Biron, a Hasek clone in appearance and
style of play, had a 1-2-1 record and a 2.14 goals-against average
in six appearances with the Sabres last year.
"This is getting out of hand," defenseman Jason Woolley said.
The Sabres began the season 0-5-2, the longest a Buffalo team had gone
without a victory at the start of a season since the 1990-91 Sabres
went 0-4-3.
Hasek, who announced in the offseason that he will retire at the
end of the season and move back to his native Czech Republic,
appears to have run out of enthusiasm.
Ruff is running low on patience with his goaltender, a two-time
league MVP who won the Olympic gold medal in 1998 and has been
voted the NHL's top goaltender five of the last six years.
"When he's focused he gets himself in a zone," Ruff said. "We
haven't seen that zone yet."
In six appearances Hasek is 0-3-1 with a 3.04 goals-against
average and 15 goals allowed. His .911 save percentage pales next
to last year's .937, the best of his career.
"There's been times in and out of games where you've seen those
incredible saves and it seems like he's not going to get beat, but
he hasn't really put it together for a full 60 minutes," Ruff
said.
The Sabres are running out of patience.
"If there's a message being sent here, it's being sent not just
to the goalie but to all of us," Woolley said. "All of our jobs
are in jeopardy here -- the players, the coaches.
"Changing the goalie is the biggest move you can make on a
team. We'll see if it works." | |
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