Thursday, December 15, 2005

Sabre Rattling!

The Buffalo Sabres continued on their winning ways, as Martin Biron backstopped them to a convincing 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars. Biron collected his 11th consecutive start and win as he turned aside 32 shots, 16 of them in the final period on the way to the record books. With the victory Biron tied the mark set by another Martin, a guy named Brodeur who also collected 11 straight wins back in 2001.

Biron has quickly become a crowd favourite in Northern New York as he leads a renaissance of hockey in Sabreland. Winning 12 of 14 games since they lost to Ottawa in November. With 20 wins so far, they are off to their best start since the 1979-80.

The game Wednesday night was a mid term exam of sorts for Lindy Ruff's team, taking the play to a Dallas team that had previously won five stright games and 13 of their last fifteen. Strong defensive play and shutting down the Stars power play were among the keys to victory besides the stellar play of Biron in the nets.

The Sabres had a 3-0 lead in the second before a few mental errors allowed the Stars to quicky get back into the game. But with the score 4-2 the Sabres were able to keep the Stars at bay, though they let things get close when Dallas scored with seven minutes to go. The Dallas goal made for a frantic and entertaining finish that gave former President Bill Clinton full value for his trip to Buffalo and a night at the hockey game.

At the end of the night though, it wasn't Hail to the Chief the crowd was singing. It was hail to the Marty, who quickly is becoming popular enough to consider running for an office of his own!

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