Sunday, January 25, 2004
FINAL
4 - 2
FINAL 1 2 3 T
Sabres 0 2 2 4
Hurricanes 1 1 0 2
GOAL SCORERS

BUF:   M. Bartovic (03:55 - 2nd) , J. Hecht (10:16 - 2nd) , D. Roy (05:15 - 3rd) , J. Hecht (18:31 - 3rd)
CAR:   E. Cole (04:06 - 1st) , K. Adams (SHG, 02:14 - 2nd)
GOALIES

BUF: M. Biron (W)
 CAR: J. Storr (L)
Buffalo Sabres 4, Carolina Hurricanes 2 FINAL
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ Jochen Hecht and Martin Biron showed the Buffalo Sabres how to rally from a deficit.

Hecht had two goals and Biron made 37 saves, helping the Sabres erase a two-goal deficit and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 Sunday for a rare comeback win.

Derek Roy's third-period goal put the Sabres ahead to stay, and Milan Bartovic added a goal and an assist.

Entering the game, the Sabres were 4-18-2 when they allowed the first goal, and 1-12-1 when trailing after the first period. But none of that mattered Sunday as the Sabres took advantage of mistakes by Carolina goaltender Jamie Storr.

``It doesn't happen very often,'' Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. ``It would've been an easy game to go the other way, but we came back.''

Erik Cole and Kevyn Adams scored for the Hurricanes, who had a 39-21 advantage in shots.

Roy's second goal of the season gave the Sabres the lead and sent Carolina to its fourth straight home loss.

After a turnover by defenseman Bruno St. Jacques in the Carolina zone, Bartovic shot on Storr, who made the save but failed to control the puck. Roy pushed the rebound into the left side of the net at 5:15 for a 3-2 lead.

It was just one of three goals that came off miscues by Storr.

The Sabres scored twice off rebounds. Bartovic scored Buffalo's first goal off a shot by Andy Delmore, poking the puck past Storr at 3:55 of the second period.

Hecht scored an insurance goal when he stole Storr's pass along the boards and beat the goaltender back to the net at 18:31 of the third.

Storr, the backup to Kevin Weekes, took responsibility for the loss.

``If I had made key saves at key times, there's no way we should've come out of this game without at least a tie and we should've had a win,'' Storr said.

Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette didn't blame his goaltender.

``We're not here to try hard. We've got to win games,'' he said. ``So I'm failing miserably, the players are failing miserably. And our fans are coming out and waiting for something to cheer about, and we're failing miserably at that as well.''

Carolina charged to an early lead when Cole took Radim Vrbata's pass from behind the net and beat Biron from the left side at 4:06 of the first.

The Hurricanes led 2-0 on Adams' short-handed goal early in the second. After racing up the ice on a turnover, he hesitated on the shot to let a sprawled-out Delmore slide by before beating Biron at 2:14.

The Sabres closed the gap with Bartovic's goal, and Hecht tied it midway through the period, sidestepping defender Niclas Wallin and scoring on a shot from the left circle.

Biron also had three big stops late in the period, turning back shots by Ron Francis, and Justin Williams, and making a diving stop on a shot by Josef Vasicek after getting caught behind the net.

``When your goaltender is on his game, it really helps a lot,'' Roy said. ``You can rely on him, take more chances and it lets you play harder.''


Three star selections
1st:   MILAN BARTOVIC
2nd:   MARTIN BIRON
3rd:   RON FRANCIS
Winning Goaltender
Martin Biron

Losing Goaltender
Jamie Storr
North Carolina Education Lottery

SCHEDULE

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PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

EASTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 z - PIT 48 36 12 0 165 119 72
2 y - MTL 48 29 14 5 149 126 63
3 y - WSH 48 27 18 3 149 130 57
4 x - BOS 48 28 14 6 131 109 62
5 x - TOR 48 26 17 5 145 133 57
6 x - NYR 48 26 18 4 130 112 56
7 x - OTT 48 25 17 6 116 104 56
8 x - NYI 48 24 17 7 139 139 55
9 WPG 48 24 21 3 128 144 51
10 PHI 48 23 22 3 133 141 49
11 NJD 48 19 19 10 112 129 48
12 BUF 48 21 21 6 125 143 48
13 CAR 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 TBL 48 18 26 4 148 150 40
15 FLA 48 15 27 6 112 171 36

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
E. Staal 48 18 35 5 53
A. Semin 44 13 31 14 44
J. Tlusty 48 23 15 15 38
J. Staal 48 10 21 -18 31
J. Skinner 42 13 11 -21 24
J. Corvo 40 6 11 -3 17
P. Dwyer 46 8 8 -7 16
J. Faulk 38 5 10 1 15
J. Harrison 47 3 7 -10 10
R. Nash 32 4 5 -4 9
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
C. Ward 9 6 1 .908 2.84
D. Ellis 6 8 2 .906 3.13
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