Dominik Hasek stopped 22 shots for his 10th shutout and the Buffalo Sabres scored three times in the third period for a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.
Michael Peca had two goals and one assist for the Sabres, who were involved in a difficult game against Penguins goaltender Tom Barasso before breaking it open in the final 13 minutes.Wayne Primeau's goal 6:48 into the third period broke a scoreless tie. He deflected Peca's shot from the point past a screened Barrasso, giving the Sabres the lead for good.
The game was the second part of a home-and-home series between the Sabres and Penguins. Pittsburgh was badly outplayed on Saturday, but Barrasso made the difference in a 2-1 victory over Buffalo.
On Sunday, Hasek kept the Sabres from getting embarrassed. The Penguins had no fewer than six good scoring opportunities foiled by last year's most valuable player, who leads the NHL in shutouts.
Jaromir Jagr was involved in four of the five chances in the second period, and Hasek got better as the game went along. He stopped Ron Francis twice in a 30-second span. He then made a sliding saves on Jagr, Ed Olczyk and Martin Straka on what appeared to be sure goals.
With 9:07 left in the third period, and the Sabres leading 1-0, Jagr missed a wide-open net when his wrist shot bounced off the cross bar.
The Sabres had a two-man advantage when Primeau deflected Peca's hard slap shot from the point past Barrasso. Jason Woolley started the play with a cross-ice pass to Peca, whose shot through traffic went off Primeau's stick and went just inside the far goal post.
Peca's first goal came when he took Grosek's pass along the right wing and used his linemate as a decoy before beating Barrasso from the right circle. His second goal went into an empty net with 1:01 left.
Hasek then settled into his third shutout this month. He had six in December when he became the first goalie since the 1920s to have that many shutouts in the same month.