No Hasek - Sabres Beat Sharks

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 20, 1999 / 2:18 AM EST / CBS Sportsline

The scene was definitely odd when the Buffalo Sabres took the ice Friday night against the San Jose Sharks.

For just the fourth time in 56 games, Dwayne Roloson stationed himself in the Buffalo net as the starting goalie instead of Dominik Hasek. At the other end was Steve Shields, who had backed up Hasek the previous two seasons.

In the end, Roloson made 30 saves and Shields stopped 24, but it was the Sabres who prevailed 4-2.

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"I just had a regular game," said Shields. "I didn't make any big saves on any of those goals. That's the difference."

Geoff Sanderson, Miroslav Satan and Curtis Brown also scored for Buffalo, which moved within two points of Toronto for second place in the Northeast Division and sixth place in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt.

Roloson's predecessor as Hasek's backup, Shields, made 24 saves for the Sharks. Owen Nolan and Stephane Matteau scored for the Sharks, 4-4-1 on their current 10-game road trip -- the longest uninterrupted swing in NHL history.

Hasek strained his groin during Wednesday's loss against Toronto, and also will miss Sunday's game against Detroit. He will be re-evaluated by team physicians Monday.

"With no preparation, (Roloon) had an opportunity and came up with a heck of an effort," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. "I said this morning, with or without Dom, we can still win this game. Dom is no excuse for losing a game."

Grosek's goal, his 13th, gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead with 8:38 remaining in the third period. Satan recovered a loose puck behind the Sharks' net and fed a pass to Grosek, who had skated to the slot. Grosek's shot went along the ice past Shields' right skate.

Brown added the insurance goal with 3:01 to go. He skated to the net with Grosek across the slot. After the players crossed, Brown kept the puck and backhanded his 14th goal into the net.

Sanderson opened the scoring with his 10th of the season 2:01 into the game. After leaving a pass for Brian Holzinger along the left wing, Sanderson went to the slot, took a sharp pass from the corner, and fired a shot between Shields' legs.

Nolan tied the game at 1 with a power-play goal 6:42 into the second period. Roloson saved Jeff Friesen's backhand shot, but couldn't recover when Nolan flipped the rebound over the sprawled goalie for his 12th goal.

Less than two minutes later Satan put Buffalo up 2-1 on a back-handed one-timer. Defenseman Jason Woolley circled around the Sharks' net and fed a pass to Satan, who was cutting across the slot. Satan's shot went over Shields' left shoulder for his club-leading 26th of the season.

The Sabres held San Jose to no shots in the final 12 minutes of the second period while clinging to a 2-1 lead. San Jose outshot the Sabres 13-3 in the opening period.

"If you can have a good start, it helps, said Sharks coach Darryl Sutter. ""Tonight we did and it just wasn't good enough."

Matteau tied the game at 2 with his seventh goal 5:56 into the third period. Patrick Marleau's shot deflected off the stick of Buffalo defenseman Mike Wilson. Matteau was alone in the slot to tip in the rebound.

Buffalo went 0-for-6 on the power play and has failed to score in its past 38 opportunities. The Sabres' last goal with a man advantage came Feb. 6 at Montreal, eight games ago.