Sabres Rebound With Beatdown of Nordiques

The Buffalo Sabres demonstrated just how valuable that top seed in the Wales Conference could be with the utter dismantling of the 8th seed Quebec Nordiques. The final score was 7 to 1 and if the Sabres hadn't gone into cruise control in the 3rd period it might have gotten uglier.

The 1st period actually started out rather frustrating for the Sabres. Buffalo was in the process of absolutely shelling goalie Mike Vernon but for the opening half of the period he was able to turn all shots aside. At the halfway point of the period one of the few Quebec shots made their way past Sabres goaltender Mike Palmateer. Over the past couple of weeks this seemed to put the Sabres into a panic as their sustained pressure has been unable to break through most nights, while the limited shots against have been going in. Thankfully, that was the only goal allowed by Palmateer as he managed to turn aside all 20 of the remaining shots from Quebec. After the Hatcher goal, the Nordiques began to get into penalty trouble and the Sabres were happy to cash in on both chances with the man advantage. Steve Thomas scored his 38th goal of the year with help from Captain Michel Goulet and Bernie Nicholls. Shortly after that Sabres veteran forward Mike Gartner scored his 20th goal of the season also on the powerplay. Mats Naslund and Jack Valiquette assisted on the eventual game-winning goal. Shots were 16 to 6 in favor of the Sabres going into the intermission.

The 2nd period saw shots more evenly matched as the Sabres edged the Nords 11 to 10, but the combination of the clicking Sabres powerplay and the dialed-in play of Mike Palmateer was too much for Quebec to withstand. Rod Shutt scored his 31st goal of the season with help from defenseman Mike O'Connell and Bernie Nicholls. A couple of minutes later the Sabres powerplay was able to strike for the 3rd time in the game as Jack Valiquette scored his 14th of the year from Boschman and Gartner. Laurie Boschman picked up his own powerplay goal as he scored his 32nd of the season with help from Goulet and Naslund.

The 3rd period saw a much lower intensity level as the chances were fewer and far between on both sides. Just over 5 minutes in the Sabres did add to their lead as Mike Gartner scored an even-strength goal with help from Boschman and Ludwig. It was Gartner's 2nd goal of the game and 21st of the season. Mats Naslund capped off the scoring with just over 5 minutes to play in the game with help from Boschman and Gartner. This was Naslund's 16th goal of the year.

The Sabres have another game against the New Jersey Devils and then close out the season with a trio of games against the Calgary Flames and one against the Montreal Canadiens. Sabres Captain Michel Goulet has quietly climbed back to the top of the scoring rankings and is a single point behind Toronto's Glenn Anderson. The teams the Sabres have on their schedule aren't regularly known for their defensive styles so there is plenty of opportunity for Goulet to come out ahead by season's end.