RSerafin
December 8th, 2001, 4:27:37 AM
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - The Avalanche are making their slow start seem like ancient history.
David Aebischer made 26 saves as Colorado beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 Friday night.
Joe Sakic, Dan Hinote, Steve Reinprecht and Milan Hejduk scored for the Avalanche, who came from behind to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games (6-0-1).
Colorado has captured 19 of its last 24 potential points.
``We had the same goaltending, the same defense, and the same commitment, but no confidence scoring goals,'' Colorado coach Bob Hartley said of the team's early season woes. ``Now the goals are coming. With the goaltending we got tonight and since the start of the year, we're a tough team to beat.''
Colorado handed Buffalo its first loss in five games. The Sabres had just won three straight road games.
Hejduk stuffed a power-play goal between Martin Biron's legs to complete the scoring with 13.1 seconds left.
Reinprecht scored a power-play goal midway through the third period, grabbing the puck in front of Biron and putting it between his legs to give the Avs a 3-1 lead. Reinprecht has points in eight of his last nine games.
In the play of the game, Hinote tipped a hard Rob Blake slap shot over Biron's right shoulder to break a 1-1 tie at 17:51 in the second period.
Sakic called the goal ``unbelievable.''
``It is an art,'' Sakic said. ``That's one thing I couldn't do.''
Hinote credited the speed of Blake's shot for the goal.
``If you can change it enough to where the goalie can't move toward it, if it's going that fast, it's going to be a goal,'' Hinote said.
Sakic took a Blake pass and knocked his 12th goal off Biron's skate in the first period to tie it at 1. Sakic has 11 points in his last eight games.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said the Avs' first two goals weren't pretty, but that didn't matter.
``They have players who capitalize on their chances,'' Ruff said. ``We didn't capitalize on ours. That was the difference.''
Dumont backhanded his 14th goal past Aebischer's stick side, extending his career-best point streak to eight games. Dumont has 13 points in that stretch and is already nine goals away from his career high.
Aebischer played well in place of Patrick Roy. With Vaclav Varada on a short breakaway with less than seven minutes to go, Aebischer made a pad save to protect the lead.
``He's a confident goalie,'' Sakic said. ``Last year he played well when (Roy) was hurt. He came in against some big teams and got us some wins.''
Buffalo went 0-4 on the power play, while Colorado converted 2 of 3. A Dumont cross-checking penalty with 1:42 left negated a Buffalo power play and created one for the Avs, forcing the Sabres to put Biron back in goal.
Biron, who stopped 22 of 26 shots, said the end of one unbeaten streak is fine as long as another begins right away.
``When you're playing well, you can lose a game, but you don't want to lose two in a row,'' Biron said.
Notes:@ Colorado entered the game ranked No. 2 in penalty killing (89.3 percent), No. 2 in blocked shots (462) and No. 5 in face-offs (52.87
Buffalo's Miroslav Satan is tied for the NHL lead with three short-handed goals.
David Aebischer made 26 saves as Colorado beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 Friday night.
Joe Sakic, Dan Hinote, Steve Reinprecht and Milan Hejduk scored for the Avalanche, who came from behind to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games (6-0-1).
Colorado has captured 19 of its last 24 potential points.
``We had the same goaltending, the same defense, and the same commitment, but no confidence scoring goals,'' Colorado coach Bob Hartley said of the team's early season woes. ``Now the goals are coming. With the goaltending we got tonight and since the start of the year, we're a tough team to beat.''
Colorado handed Buffalo its first loss in five games. The Sabres had just won three straight road games.
Hejduk stuffed a power-play goal between Martin Biron's legs to complete the scoring with 13.1 seconds left.
Reinprecht scored a power-play goal midway through the third period, grabbing the puck in front of Biron and putting it between his legs to give the Avs a 3-1 lead. Reinprecht has points in eight of his last nine games.
In the play of the game, Hinote tipped a hard Rob Blake slap shot over Biron's right shoulder to break a 1-1 tie at 17:51 in the second period.
Sakic called the goal ``unbelievable.''
``It is an art,'' Sakic said. ``That's one thing I couldn't do.''
Hinote credited the speed of Blake's shot for the goal.
``If you can change it enough to where the goalie can't move toward it, if it's going that fast, it's going to be a goal,'' Hinote said.
Sakic took a Blake pass and knocked his 12th goal off Biron's skate in the first period to tie it at 1. Sakic has 11 points in his last eight games.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said the Avs' first two goals weren't pretty, but that didn't matter.
``They have players who capitalize on their chances,'' Ruff said. ``We didn't capitalize on ours. That was the difference.''
Dumont backhanded his 14th goal past Aebischer's stick side, extending his career-best point streak to eight games. Dumont has 13 points in that stretch and is already nine goals away from his career high.
Aebischer played well in place of Patrick Roy. With Vaclav Varada on a short breakaway with less than seven minutes to go, Aebischer made a pad save to protect the lead.
``He's a confident goalie,'' Sakic said. ``Last year he played well when (Roy) was hurt. He came in against some big teams and got us some wins.''
Buffalo went 0-4 on the power play, while Colorado converted 2 of 3. A Dumont cross-checking penalty with 1:42 left negated a Buffalo power play and created one for the Avs, forcing the Sabres to put Biron back in goal.
Biron, who stopped 22 of 26 shots, said the end of one unbeaten streak is fine as long as another begins right away.
``When you're playing well, you can lose a game, but you don't want to lose two in a row,'' Biron said.
Notes:@ Colorado entered the game ranked No. 2 in penalty killing (89.3 percent), No. 2 in blocked shots (462) and No. 5 in face-offs (52.87
Buffalo's Miroslav Satan is tied for the NHL lead with three short-handed goals.