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Sekera's tally keeps Sabres' slim postseason hopes alive

Mar 31, 2008 - 1:59 AM By David Whalen PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- An unlikely hero helped keep the Buffalo Sabres' slim playoff hopes alive.

Rookie defenseman Andrej Sekera's second goal of the season at 39 seconds of overtime lifted the Sabres to a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Sunday.

Thomas Vanek set up the goal by taking the puck into the left side of the Boston end before dropping a pass back to the the top of the slot for Sekera's one-timer that beat Bruins goaltender Alex Auld just inside the post on the stick side. The tally was scored on the first shot of the extra period.

"Mike Weber did an awesome job stepping up on the guy and took away his body on the puck", Sekera said. "Thomas Vanek got the loose puck. He took it in the zone. It was two-on-two so I joined the rush.

"Roy was driving the net so he took away the other defenseman. I just got a beautiful pass from Thomas and I scored on it."

The win moves the Sabres (37-30-12) within five points of Boston (40-28-11) and Philadelphia (40-28-11) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Each team has three games remaining.

"Our fans have been behind us all year", Sabres Captain Jason Pominville said. "We're going to need them from here on out. We wanted to be sure we came out strong and get a win. Our backs are against the wall. Overall we played well. It was definitely fun and rewarding to get that win at home."

The Bruins opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal on their first shot of the game.

After Milan Lucic took a double minor for a high stick on the Sabres' Derek Roy, defenseman David Krejci broke out on a 2-on-1 with Marco Sturm and snuck a wrist shot under Sabres goalie Ryan Miller's left arm. The puck trickled into the net for a 1-0 advantage at the 2:33 mark of the first period.

"It was two-on-one with Sturm", Krejci said. "I was thinking if I should give it top him. Then I decided to keep it on my own and make a play. The defense took (Sturm) away. I had nothing so I just tried to go upstairs."

It was the sixth of the season for Krejci, who has three goals and five assists in his last four games.

The Sabres knotted the score at 1-1, taking advantage of their third power-play chance with 9:45 left in the opening period.

Defenseman Toni Lydman went to the net, tipping in a sharp pass from the right corner by Paul Gaustad. Roy also earned an assist on the goal, extending his current league-high point streak to nine games.

"I just went backdoor and all the way to the net", Lydman said. "As soon as their defenseman turned his back, I kind of tried to sneak in there. Great heads-up play from Paul (Gaustad), a great pass. I really didn't have to do anything. It kind of hit my stick and went in."

The score remained tied for the rest of regulation as Auld made 28 saves and Miller finished with 17 stops.

Boston, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, was playing its fourth game in six days. The 18 shots on goal matched a season low.

"It's been a good week for us", Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "If somebody would've told me we had a chance to get seven out of eight points this week I certainly would've taken it.

"I still think our team played hard tonight. It was third game in four nights and obviously fatigue sets in. There were mental mistakes. One thing I won't criticize is our team's efforts."