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Sunday, October 24, 1999
Sens get high, low
Big victory, costly injury on same night
Ottawa extended its home unbeaten streak to five games and Shawn McEachern ended a frustrating slump by scoring his first goal of the year during an easy 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres last night at the Corel Centre.
But there was bad news waiting for the players as they skated off the ice.
Tests on the injured right knee of captain Daniel Alfredsson revealed a third degree sprain of the MCL, which will sideline him for 8-10 weeks.
Even without Alfredsson last night, the Senators had a simple night against the Sabres (1-6-2) and must have been wondering why Buffalo wasn't this awful last year when it swept Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs.
All-world goalie Dominik Hasek started for Buffalo, but the legendary Dominator allowed two weak goals to Marian Hossa, who scored on backhand shots through Hasek's pads.
"Maybe he's not playing to the standards that we're used to seeing, but he's still the best goalie in the world," said McEachern. "We had an awful lot of shots on him, and I don't think you can blame it on Dominik Hasek."
Buffalo's defence of its own zone was atrocious and too often Hasek was left on his own to keep the puck out of the net as Ottawa cruised to a 35-19 advantage in shots on goal.
'WE GOT SMOKED'
"We were outskated. We got smoked, that's what we got," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.
McEachern's goal was a good example of how poorly Buffalo performed, and how simple things were for Ottawa.
"You want to get the first one of the season early, and sometimes it doesn't happen," he said. "During the season, sometimes you go eight games without scoring one and nobody says too much. At the start, you want to get them early."
Tugnutt stopped 18 shots to record his first shutout of the season (his first since Feb.18 last season against Boston) and the 12th of his career.
Ottawa defenceman Igor Kravchuk was a surprise scratch for what coach Jacques Martin called personal reasons. He was replaced in the lineup by Patrick Traverse, who saw action for the first time since Oct. 5.
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