Playoff Game 6
April 27, 1994
Buffalo Sabres (2-3) vs. New Jersey Devils (3-2)
Puck Drop: 8:00 PM EST | The Aud | Buffalo, NY
TV: MSG
Radio: WGR 550
SB Nation Devils Blog: All About the Jersey
Know Your Opponent
New Jersey Devils
Record: (3-2)
What to Watch
1. Win or go home
This is it! There’s no going back – if Buffalo can’t win, they’ll spend the summer on the golf course. It’s a tough swing, coming off of a 5-3 loss in New Jersey, but the team has left itself no choice. It was an uncharacteristic loss for this Sabres squad, but they are nothing if not resilient, and if they can stay out of the box and keep the shots on Hasek down, they have a solid chance of evening up the series.
2. Duel for the ages
Both Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hasek have had great seasons for their teams, and it’s been a spectacular rookie season for Broduer. In his first year playing as a starter, he has demonstrated an uncanny ability to keep the puck out of the net. Maybe it’s too early in his career to peg him as a hall of famer, but he’ll be enshrined by the end of the decade. Hasek has been dominant himself, and he’ll need to be fantastic again tonight in order to pull out a win. The Sabres are regularly outshot, and Dominik is up to the task. How many more saves can he have in him? 50? 60?
3. Discipline
It’s not easy to score on this Devils team, and it’s even more difficult to do so when playing down a man. The team needs to stay out of the box if they are going to pull off this victory. They finished the regular season in the middle of the pack in penalty minutes and penalties taken, and rounded out the top-10 in penalties drawn. They’ll need to keep that balance in this game if they intend to extend their season. Getting some goals on the power play could also be beneficial.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Donald Audette
Matthew Barnaby
Doug Bodger
Philippe Boucher
Jason Dawe
Dave Hannan
Dale Hawerchuk
Yuri Khmylev
Brad May
Alexander Mogilny
Randy Moller
Craig Muni
Derek Plante
Wayne Presley
Rob Ray
Richard Smehlik
Ken Sutton
Randy Wood
Starting Goaltender: Dominik Hasek
New Jersey Devils
Tommy Albelin
Bob Carpenter
Tom Chorske
Ken Daneyko
Jim Dowd
Bruce Driver
Viacheslav Fetisov
Bill Guerin
Bobby Holik
Claude Lemieux
John MacLean
Randy McKay
Scott Niedermayer
Mike Peluso
Stephane Richer
Alexander Semak
Scott Stevens
Valeri Zelepukin
Starting goalie: Martin Brodeur