Sanderson Lifts Sabres

May 9, 1998 / 12:20 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Nobody was safe from Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff's bench during the regular season, not even star goaltender Dominik Hasek. If anybody went into a slump, they sat.

Geoff Sanderson found himself in street clothes for the series-clinching, first-round victory in Game 5 against the Philadelphia Flyers after he went four games without scoring.

On Friday night, his second goal 2:37 into overtime lifted the Sabres to a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

"When you're supposed to be scoring goals and you go through a series where you don't produce, then you have to make changes," Sanderson said. "I knew I had to score. I put all sorts of pressure on myself to do it."

Sanderson, who also scored in the first period, grabbed Brian Holzinger's rebound in the right circle and beat Canadiens goaltender Andy Moog with a wrist shot into the top half of the net. Just like that, his poor play against Philadelphia was forgotten.

"Nobody wants to sit out a playoff game," Ruff said. "I thought (the benching) was a chance to send him a message."

It marked the first time in 14 playoff games that the Canadiens lost a game in overtime. Montreal nearly pulled out a victory after coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period.

Turner Stevenson and Vincent Damphousse scored 10 seconds apart with less than six minutes remaining in regulation to tie the game as the Sabres were caught sitting on a 2-0 lead.

For the first 54 minutes, the night belonged to Hasek, who once again saved his team from embarrassment. He made 42 saves and killed several scoring opportunities before Stevenson and Damphousse scored in the third period. All told, Hasek stopped 46 shots.

"If we play that hard every game, it's going to be real tough on Buffalo," Canadiens goaltender Andy Moog said. "They're going to need a lot more performances from their goaltender to win."

Hasek should have been punch-drunk considering all the shots he faced in the second period, but for a while, he only seemed to get stronger with every Montreal scoring opportunity.

The Canadiens finally broke through when Marc Bureau had the puck near the point and sent a pass between the circles to Stevenson, who made a quick move and beat Hasek with a backhander to the stick side with 5:44 left in regulation.

Moments after the ensuing faceoff, Damphousse took a pass from defenseman Vladimir Malakhov and beat Hasek between the legs with a wrist shot from a difficult angle.

"Dom was unbelievable," Sabres forward Matthew Barnaby said. "We didn't mean to hang him out to dry. He stood on his head and won the game for us."

Montreal had a chance to win with two minutes left in the thirwhen Shayne Corson rattled a wrist shot off the goal post. Less than a minute later, Mark Recchi hit the other post.

"We responded well in the second and third periods," Damphousse said. "We are not going to stop coming at him until we win or it's over."

The sixth-seeded Sabres, who beat the No. 3 Philadelphia Flyers in five games in the first round, got off to another good start against the seventh-seeded Canadiens. Game 2 will be played Sunday in Buffalo.

Holzinger got the Sabres moving when he scored 2:52 into the game after Donald Audette chased down the puck in the corner and chipped it in front of the net. Holzinger swung behind the goal and grabbed control before beating Andy Moog with a wrist shot between the legs.

Sanderson made it 2-0 after Buffalo made three quick passes in the Montreal zone before Jason Woolley found Sanderson with a fourth in the right circle. Sanderson's wrist shot went through Moog's legs.

"It's a great feeling," Sanderson said. "I was really feeling pressure for myself and basically from everyone. I really wanted to get going."