Game Recap

BUFFALO 2, DALLAS 1 BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Dominik Hasek issued this challenge to his Buffalo Sabres teammates: It takes more than goaltending and goal-scoring to win a Stanley Cup. It also takes guts. Apparently, the Sabres got Hasek's message. Maybe just in time. Dixon Ward and Geoff Sanderson scored off giveaways that left Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock shaking his head in disgust, and the Sabres tied the tightly played Stanley Cup Finals with a 2-1 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday night. What essentially was a must-win game for Buffalo, as only one team in 60 years has rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the Stanley Cup, sends the series back to Dallas for Game 5 Thursday tied 2-2. "This was a must win for us," Ward said. "If we don't win this, you could just take us off the burner 'cause we're done." Two of the final three games, if necessary, will be in Dallas, including Game 7. "It's time to dig in and get dirty because there is a huge prize on the line," the Stars' Mike Modano said. Hasek sensed it was slipping away from the Sabres in a close-as-can-be series in which only 17 goals have been scored -- nine by Dallas, eight by Buffalo. It is the lowest-scoring Stanley Cup finals in 30 years. Montreal outscored St. Louis 12-3 in sweeping the 1969 finals. So, after practice Monday, Hasek challenged the Sabres to be more aggressive offensively and defensively. If they did, he promised, he would be there to protect them. He did, turning aside 30 shots, allowing only Jere Lehtinen's power-play goal at 10:14 of the first period. "Hasek said it all, really," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "What he said was, 'Bring it on.' Emotionally, he was the leader of the team for us and he set the tone with his statements. Emotion and passion won us the hockey game." "Any time he comes out and says what he said, it's for the good of the team," the Sabres' Jason Woolley said. "Sometimes you need someone like that to tell you that." With Dallas sharpshooter Brett Hull out with a groin injury, the Stars didn't have many good scoring chances on Hasek despite outshooting Buffalo 31-18. "I played well, but I got a lot of support," Hasek said. "It was a great defensive effort. We were much more aggressive." More importantly, the Stars lacked the suffocating, error-free defense that limited Buffalo to 12 shots in a 2-1 victory in Game 3. "This is for the Stanley Cup," the Stars' Brian Skrudland said. "Every night you bring the best you've got and live with the results. This is as tight a matchup as you'll find." Ward scored the game-winner at 7:37 of the second period off 38-year-old defenseman Craig Ludwig's turnover in the Dallas end. Ludwig was trying to chip the puck up ice, but Ward intercepted and snapped a shot from the slot before goaltender Ed Belfour could react. Sanderson put Buffalo ahead 1-0 on a first-period breakaway created by a similar giveaway by Ludwig. "The puck was just dumped out of their zone," Ludwig said of the first goal. "I was just trying to throw it over to my partner Shawn (Chambers), and it bounced right off the top of my stick. I think it was Ward's stick, and he just shot it over top of me. I screened Eddie and he didn't have a chance." Hitchcock reacted disgustedly because he had the feeling Dallas was about to take the lead. "We were really playing well at that time. ... We gave it up easily and that took the wind out of our sails," he said. In a series that has seen a one-goal differential or a tie score for all but 26 seconds, two mistakes were too many for Dallas, especially before an electrified Marine Midland Arena crowd of 18,595 that clearly wasn't ready to watch the Sabres for the last time this season. "I don't think we panicked, but we definitely could have controlled the puck better," the Stars' Guy Carbonneau said. "We made two mistakes, and they got two goals out of it." The Stars got few rebound attempts against Hasek and had little success in creating traffic to distract him. Belfour played perhaps his best game of the series, making several spectacular saves during a second-period sequence in which slumping Buffalo star Miroslav Satan missed twice from short range. "We could have scored three or four goals," Hasek said. BUFFALO SABRES 2, Dallas Stars 1 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 1 0 0 1 Buffalo 1 1 0 2 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Buffalo, Sanderson 4, 8:09. 2, Dallas, Lehtinen 9 (Modano, Hatcher), 10:14 (pp). PENALTIES: Matvichuk, Dal (roughing), 3:48; Primeau, Buf (charging), 9:32; Woolley, Buf (holding), 19:05. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 3, Buffalo, Ward 7, 7:37. PENALTIES: Verbeek, Dal (interference), :21; Ludwig, Dal (interference), 11:07; Skrudland, Dal (roughing), 14:49; Holzinger, Buf (boarding), 16:44; Hatcher, Dal (roughing), 20:00; Verbeek, Dal (roughing), 20:00; Hasek, served by Barnes (roughing), 20:00; Zhitnik, Buf (roughing), 20:00. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: None. PENALTIES: Nieuwendyk, Dal (hooking), 1:06; Reid, Dal (roughing), 20:00; Langenbrunner, Dal (slashing), 20:00; Warrener, Buf (roughing), 20:00; Ward, Buf, double minor (roughing), 20:00. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 9 9 13 31 Buffalo 7 9 2 18 POWER PLAY: Dallas 1 of 3; Buffalo 0 of 5. GOALIES: Dallas, Belfour 14-7 (18 shots-16 saves). Buffalo, Hasek 13-4 (31-30). Referees: Dan Marouelli, Bill McCreary. Linesmen: Gord Broseker, Kevin Collins. A:18,595 (18,595).