Canadiens Shut Out by Hasek

Once again, Dominik Hasek’s brilliant goaltending saved the day for the Buffalo Sabres.

Hasek made 42 saves for his fourth shutout in the past month as the Sabres defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0, Friday night at Buffalo.

“With the chances we had, he made some unbelievable saves,” Canadiens center Saku Koivu said. “A few times I thought we had the goal, but he made the save somehow.”

It was the 24th career shutout for Hasek, including four in 14 games since Nov. 20.

“He was extremely sharp,” Buffalo Coach Lindy Ruff said.

Donald Audette scored the only goal as the Sabres ended a two-game losing streak. The Canadiens lost their fourth straight.

Buffalo won despite getting outshot, 42-20.

“The shot numbers were a little misleading,” Ruff said. “On scoring chances, they maybe had three or four more than us.”

The 42 saves by Hasek were the most by a Sabres goalie in a shutout. The previous record was 38, set by Gerry Desjardins in 1976 and tied by Hasek Dec. 5 against Tampa Bay.

Detroit 5, New Jersey 4--Doug Brown got his first career hat trick, including the winning goal with 7:21 left at Detroit, as the Red Wings ended New Jersey’s seven-game unbeaten streak.

Nicklas Lidstrom scored two goals for the Red Wings, while rookie Yan Golubovsky had two assists for his first career points as Detroit ended a four-game winless streak.

Colorado 3, Pittsburgh 3--Adam Deadmarsh had a goal and an assist as the Avalanche came back from a two-goal deficit to tie the Penguins at Denver.

Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg had goals for the Avalanche, who have the most ties (11) and fewest losses (8) in the NHL.

Stu Barnes had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who are 10-1-4 in their last 15 games. Pittsburgh also got goals from Garry Valk and Fredrik Olausson and two assists from Jaromir Jagr.

Colorado goalie Patrick Roy returned after sitting out four games with a strained abdominal muscle. He stopped 26 shots and had his second assist of the season.