Sabres, like ’96 Panthers, stifle Pens’ stars

BUFFALO, N.Y. - If you think Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr seem frustrated now, you should have seen them around this time in 1996.

That's when the Florida Panthers hog-tied the Penguins' dynamic duo, holding them to two goals in a seven-game series victory in the Eastern Conference finals. Lemieux and Jagr had no goals in the last five games.

'The one thing I do remember is Mario saying after it was all over that he probably played against the best defensive team he's ever played against,' said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who was an assistant coach with the Panthers. 'We built a system in Florida. We knew we didn't have any glorified goal scorers, but through hard work and trying to limit opportunities - and we hoped we'd get great goaltending - we had a chance to win every night.'

Sound familiar• This Sabres team has much more offensive punch than that Florida team, but hard work, speed, depth and great goaltending are its trademarks.

The Sabres have limited Lemieux to one goal in four games, Jagr to no goals in five periods. Lemieux didn't have a shot in Game 4.

'He's dangerous anywhere on the ice,' Ruff said. 'And we have to make our players realize that (the Penguins) look for him quite often. So, we cheat against him and make sure that we collapse and take away quite a few options.'

That's exactly what happened on Curtis Brown's shorthanded goal in Game 4. Alexei Kovalev tried to force a long pass to Lemieux, and Brown picked it off.

Ruff is using two five-man units against Lemieux's line. Former Panthers players Stu Barnes and Rhett Warrener are part of those units.

'Whether he's worn down or a little bit tired (is hard to say), but I think as hard as we play defensively and as hard as our forwards come back, it's frustrating to play against,' Ruff said.

BAD MOVE
The way Sabres tough guy Rob Ray sees it, Toronto's Tie Domi gave all NHL enforcers a black eye when he dropped New Jersey's Scott Niedermayer with a viscous cheap shot Thursday.

'The guys who play that role (of enforcer) are not the guys who generally go out and do stuff like that,' Ray said. 'And then, he pulls something like that, and it's kind of hard to justify our point that we kind of stick to ourselves and do our thing. ... Usually we're the guys who are sticking up for the guys that get the dirty shots.'

WOOLLEY FACTOR
Former Penguins defenseman Jason Woolley has become a big factor in the series. Woolley has three points (goal, two assists), including the game-winning goal in Game 3.

Had Jay McKee (concussion) been healthy, Woolley might not have played in Game 3. He was scratched often this season and scored just five goals in 67 games, his worst output in six years. Sabres fans booed him, and he was scratched for most of the first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Woolley kept a level head.

'Jason would be the first to admit it's probably been his toughest year in the past five-six years,' Ruff said. 'He had a leg injury last season and he couldn't train like he wanted in the summer. And guys outplayed him. But, an injury pops up, and you can see his value again.'

SLAP SHOTS
Ruff said he will make a game-time decision on forward Erik Rasmussen (shoulder), who has yet to play in the series. ... McKee will be reevaluated by doctors today but likely won't play again in the series. ... Ruff said he switched his lines before Game 3 in order to match 'speed with speed.' ... Ruff said the Penguins had 20 scoring chances in Game 1 but have had only 8-12 in each game since then.