Buffalo Rising Online

Apr 19th 2007, 9:06am By Dave Staba

It wasn’t the game-winning goal (Chris Drury's second of the night and fourth of the series earned that distinction), but Jason Pominville’s bravura solo with little more than a minute left in Buffalo’s 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Wednesday demonstrated the superiority of the Sabres, who should author the conclusion to their first-round playoff series during Game 5 on Friday night.

The Islanders, trailing by a goal with about 80 seconds remaining, tried to push the puck out of their own end. Pominville swiped the puck from New York’s Marc-Andre Bergeron. Then he lost it to Bergeron’s defensive partner, Tom Poti. Then he took it back and scorched Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, effectively ending the game and the series. DiPietro acknowledged as much by smashing his stick against the goal post as the red light flared.

Pominville’s mixture of skill and determination really has to be seen several times to be fully appreciated. As always, you can see it as many times as you’d like, courtesy of NHL.com (click on the 300K or 700K link as appropriate – the ensuing pop-up allows you to view the full highlight package, or individual goals). Unfortunate video editing removed DiPietro’s anguished reaction, though you can see him holding the shattered handle in its aftermath.

Pominville showed an extraordinary sense of timing, too. His first goal of the series came less than 30 seconds after the Islanders deluded themselves into thinking they’d tied the game.

The puck did indeed wind up in the net after New York’s desperate charge on goal with less than two minutes remaining, but so did Ryan Miller. Since the rules of hockey preclude physically beating a goalie, the goal was rightly waved off, a decision confirmed by replay officials.

As shown by Pominville’s virtuosity – and through most of the series, save the early going in Game 2 and short bursts during the two contests at Nassau Coliseum – Buffalo is simply more talented and more relentless than the Islanders, whose only real chance to win four of seven was displaying a clear advantage in the latter category.

They’ve certainly shown more grit, as you’d expect from a Ted Nolan-coached team, than the Atlanta Thrashers, who commenced giving up shortly after the puck hit the ice in Game 1 against the New York Rangers in another Eastern Conference first-round series.

That was enough to earn the Islanders one win. And with the series shifting back to Buffalo for Friday’s Game 5, they don’t figure to get much more.