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head coach: Lindy Ruff

roster: C - Mike Peca, Derek Plante, Brian Holzinger, Wayne Primeau. LW - Geoff Sanderson, Miroslav Satan, Michal Grosek, Paul Kruse. RW - Donald Audette, Matthew Barnaby, Dixon Ward, Rob Ray, Vaclav Varada. D - Alexei Zhitnik, Darryl Shannon, Jay McKee, Mike Wilson, Bob Boughner, Richard Smehlik, Jason Woolley, Jason Holland, Rumun Ndur, Jean Luc Grand-Pierre. G - Dominik Hasek, Steve Shields, Martin Biron.

injuries: None.

transactions: Signed Cory Sarich, d, Seattle (WHL) to a three-year contract.

game results:

First Round vs Philadelphia: Sabres won series 4-1

4/22 at Philadelphia   W 3-2
4/24 at Philadelphia   L 3-2
4/27 Philadelphia      W 6-1
4/29 Philadelphia      W 4-1
5/01 at Philadelphia   W 3-2 OT

Second Round vs Montreal: Sabres won series 4-0 

5/08 Montreal         W 3-2 OT
5/10 Montreal         W 6-3
5/10 at Montreal      W 5-4 2OT
5/14 at Montreal      W 3-1

Third Round vs Washington: Caps lead series 3-1

5/23 at Washington    W 2-1
5/25 at Washington    L 3-2 OT
5/28 Washington       L 4-3 OT
5/30 Washington       L 2-0

team news:

by Joe Brunner, Buffalo Correspondent

The Sabres now find themselves on the brink of elimination having dropped their last two home games, and an unprecedented three straight. What went wrong? There's a lot of explanations for the position the Sabres find themselves in, ranging from their slumping power play to the poor performance of Michael Peca and his checking line in Game Three. But the bottom line is that Olaf Kolzig has outplayed Dominik Hasek by a wide margin.

Michael Peca by Meredith Martini

The man once hailed as the greatest goaltender in the world has put up decent numbers for the series as a whole, but in the last three games has performed at a less then average level. Hasek entered the series with a sparkling .938 save percentage (SP) and a 2.05 goals-against average (GAA). Although Hasek has managed a respectable .916 SP and 2.25 GAA in this series, it's not even in the same league as Kolzig's .948 SP. But the most telling stats are from the past three games. During that span, Hasek has given up nine goals and has compiled a miserable .898 SP, while Olie the goalie continues to roll along allowing just five goals while having a spectacular .946 SP.

It now seems quite clear that the hit by Peter Bondra and subsequent temper tantrum by the Buffalo netminder in Game Two has had an impact. Hasek simply hasn't been the same since that incident. Although the overtime winner in Game Three was a good shot by Bondra, Hasek had a clear look at it and it's a save he's expected to make.

In Game Four, both the Caps' goals were of the soft variety; particularly the 75-footer by Joe Juneau. Although there's some dispute as to whether Hasek was screened on the first goal by Craig Berube, there's no disputing that the last three goals on the Dominator came from beyond 40 feet. So once again Sabres' fans are revisiting the question of whether Hasek can handle the pressure in the playoffs. One popular explanation is that he's simply fatigued. After all, he has appeared in 91 games this year including the Olympics. However the Sabres did have a nine-day layoff before this series and a six-day rest following the Flyers series. And for all the talk about how grueling the playoffs are, there are no back-to-back games. To be precise, the Sabres have only played nine games in May.

By no means does the blame for the Sabres' plight rest solely on Hasek's shoulders. Regardless of how Hasek plays, the Sabres won't win if they don't put the puck behind Kolzig. However, Dominik's role is to keep the Sabres in games, and so far he hasn't lived up to it. Fans would be far less critical if their team was losing despite brilliant play by their $8-million goaltender.

Although it's a long shot, this series isn't over yet. For history buffs, teams have rallied to win series after trailing 3-1. In fact there have been three instances where the Caps were up 3-1 in series and went on to lose. On the other side of the ledger, the Sabres are 0-8, in series where they trailed 3-1. My approach is to throw history out the window, as neither team resembles the ones when these things happened. The Sabres do appear loose and relaxed and are approaching Game Five as if they have nothing to lose. If Hasek can regain his form, the Sabres are still capable of producing some anxious moments for Capitals' fans. Like I said, it's a long shot, but don't expect the Sabres to throw in the towel.

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