To no one's surprise, Dominik Hasek turned in his usual brilliant performance in goal. Surprisingly, Nashville goalie Tomas Vokoun was just as good.
The Buffalo Sabres were outshot 43-16, yet still managed to tie the St. Louis Blues 2-2 Tuesday night, thanks to Hasek."It's frightening how good he was," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "Grand larceny is a good way to describe it."
When backup goalie Eric Fichaud was injured in the opening period, Vokoun saw his first action for the Predators and stopped 27 of 30 shots as Nashville tied the Edmonton Oilers 3-3.
"For the past couple months, we've watched the way Tomas works," teammate Sergei Krivokrasov said. "I think we've got confidence in him."
Hasek was selected NHL player of the week last week after allowing two goals in three games. He was in the same groove Tuesday night, especially in the first period when he stopped 17 shots.
"My job is to stop the puck," said Hasek, who extended the Sabres' unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1). "You feel excited when you get outshot by a wide margin and get a tie."
Pavol Demitra had no problem solving Hasek, scoring both St. Louis goals. Demitra, who has a total of 12 goals, has had nine goals and nine assists in his last 14 games.
For Blues coach Joel Quenneville, it wasn't anything unusual.
"That's just a regular game for him," Quenneville said. "His anticipation is incredible, his quickness is as good as anybody, and he's got so many weapons to keep himself in front of the puck.
"The best thing is he follows the puck closer than anybody I've ever seen."
Curtis Brown scored both Buffalo goals, but was more interested in talking about Hasek.
"I don't know if there's a word in the dictionary to describe this guy," Brown said. "If anyone in the world can stop the puck, it's him."
OILERS 3, PREDATORS 3: Cliff Ronning and Krivokrasov scored 20 seconds apart in the third period to erase a 3-1 deficit as the host Predators snapped a three-game losing streak.
SENATORS 4, LIGHTNING 2: Shawn McEachern had two goals and an assist in Ottawa's victory at Tampa, while Alexei Yashin added a goal and two assists, giving him eight goals and 17 points in 14 games.
The Senators (13-8-3) outshot Tampa Bay 44-19 in going five games over .500.
RED WINGS 3, BLACKHAWKS 2: Steve Yzerman had two assists as Detroit snapped Chicago's three-game winning streak.
AVALANCHE 2, ISLANDERS 1: At Uniondale, N.Y., Peter Forsberg scored while falling on his back and Patrick Roy stopped 31 shots as Colorado downed the Islanders.
FLYERS 5, DEVILS 5: Rod Brind'Amour capped a third-period scoring flurry when he pulled Philadelphia into a tie at New Jersey.