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 Golden goalies Hasek, Dafoe to meet in conference semifinals
Posted: Wednesday May 05, 1999 08:11 PM
WILMINGTON, Mass. (AP) -- Boston goalie Byron Dafoe had a scoop for reporters about his Buffalo counterpart, Dominik Hasek: "We've got to remember that he is human." Despite that claim after Wednesday's practice, Hasek's saves sometimes seem out of this world. Whether he's flopping on the ice or snatching a puck out of the air, he's the NHL's best goalie. And that means the Bruins will have a tough time scoring against the Sabres in their second-round playoff series beginning Thursday night in Boston. So they plan to rely on quantity -- plenty of shots on goal and plenty of Bruins blocking Hasek's view in front of the net -- to try and beat the NHL's most valuable player the past two years. "His style is so unorthodox, you basically try to put the puck on net and try to get as much traffic in front," said Boston wing Anson Carter. "He doesn't play standup style. He doesn't play butterfly style. He just stops the puck." Hasek was outstanding in Buffalo's four-game sweep of Ottawa in the opening round. That followed a regular season in which he led the NHL in save percentage and was second with nine shutouts and second with a 1.87 goals against average. But Dafoe wasn't far behind. He actually led the league with 10 shutouts, was second in save percentage and third with a 1.99 goals against average. "We have to play at least as well as we did against Ottawa, maybe even better, because we're facing a better team now," Hasek said. Don't expect a lot of scoring in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinal between two defensive-minded teams. Especially since Miroslav Satan, who led Buffalo with 40 goals, may miss the opener with an ankle injury. That's one less scorer for Dafoe to worry about. Hasek "is a good goaltender. We have a good goaltender, too," Bruins coach Pat Burns said. "You're going to have to really shoot like you mean it and get to the net." Hasek, though, has had more success over a longer period of time than Dafoe. "We have Dominik, they have Byron," Buffalo's Brian Holzinger said. "We like our chances with Dom." Buffalo had the upper hand in the regular season, going 4-1 against the Bruins. Boston's only win came in its next to last game, 2-1 in overtime on April 17. The Bruins and Sabres each finished with 91 points, but Boston got the sixth seed and Buffalo the seventh because the Bruins had two more wins. The matchup was set when eighth-seeded Pittsburgh eliminated first-seeded New Jersey on Tuesday night. Neither Boston nor Buffalo expects their regular-season meetings to have any effect on the playoffs. "If the regular season tended to determine anything in the postseason," Ruff said, "Ottawa and New Jersey would be in the playoffs right now." During the regular season, Boston scored six goals in four games against Hasek, while Buffalo had 14 in five games against Dafoe. "If you're getting chances, you're going to score some goals," Boston captain Ray Bourque said. "Not all that many goalies are able to steal a game on their own. He's capable of doing that." Dafoe, though, welcomes the challenge. "You know he's going to have a great series so I've got to try to be just as good to match him," Dafoe said. Surprisingly, he added, he's never met Hasek, although they'll get together when the teams line up to exchange handshakes at the end of the series. "I'll get to shake his hand, that's for sure," Dafoe said. "I hope I'm smiling when I'm doing it."
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