BUFFALO - Wade Dubielewicz's 15 minutes of fame was long enough to eliminate
the Maple Leafs.
Now it looks as if it will be Rick DiPietro's monumental assignment to upset
the Sabres.
Not 10 minutes after the New York Islanders were beaten 4-1 by Buffalo in
Game 1 of their series, they revealed their $67.5-million US goalie had been
cleared from concussion problems and flown here from New York by private
jet.
He will practice today and a decision will be made on starting him in Game 2
tomorrow. Yesterday was the all-important seventh day that DiPietro had been
symptom-free after he suffered the second of two concussions in March.
He watched some of last night's game as the top-seeded Sabres went into
overdrive with three goals in the second half. They forced the Isles into
momentum-killing penalties and held them to 21 shots, only one in the first
period.
Dubielewicz, who helped oust the Leafs with four straight wins at the end of
the schedule, could not be faulted last night on 35 shots. Chris Drury and
defenceman Brian Campbell scored two goals apiece, each with a power-play
goal, with Drury's second coming just a couple of ticks after Randy
Robitaille exited the box.
"As late as the third period, one bounce could have changed things," said
Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff, not 100% pleased with what he saw over 60 minutes..
"But you know the other team is going to come out hard in the first game of
the other team's building."
The Isles did the impossible at first, weighing down the Sabres and sucking
much of the life from a sold-out (18,690) HSBC Center that had been gearing
for playoffs for months.
They withstood a one-sided first period, which included that club
playoff-record one shot on Ryan Miller, down just a goal.
The Isles also blocked shots and forced the Sabres wide. A few boos were
detected after a pass was picked off and turned into a tying Arron Asham
goal at 6:58 of the second. Perhaps the elder fan base knew the Sabres'
record is 1-13 when losing the first game of a series.
One hockey publication, squeezed by deadlines, went to press without
including the Isles in its 16-team playoff preview. A national sports radio
show did a half-hour playoff pre-tape with a Buffalo reporter on Saturday,
inquiring only about the Sabres playing the Leafs or Canadiens.
"Getting the eighth seed, no one outside this room thinks we can win,"
Dubielewicz said after the morning skate. "But we've played playoff hockey
for a while now.
"I've got to be realistic about it. Everything fell into place for us to get
here, but not every bounce is going to go our way through the whole
playoffs."
DiPietro ended his regular season with a record of 32-19-9.
"That's huge for them," Drury said of DiPietro's stick-handling and passing
skills. "In a blink of an eye, the puck is gone to Jason Blake or Ryan
Smyth.
"But (defence) is the first thing Lindy talks about every day and the last.
We're serious about it."
The Sabres have been itching for this chance ever since injuries sank their
chances to beat the Carolina Hurricanes in last year's Eastern Conference
final. The President's Trophy winners have 53 victories, plus a
league-leading 308 goals, the majority split among four 30-goal men.
"It's been a long time between playoff games for us," Campbell said. "It's
fun going out there, trying to hit guys with the crowd screaming. You get a
shiver down your whole body."
lance.hornby@sunmedia.ca
