Priceless Comeback: Late Heroics Move Sabres from

It was another night of pure drama at the Needham Center, as the last night of the 2002B regular season came to a close in theatrical fashion. First place was on the line in the night's late game, as the 6-2-1 Hackers faced-off against the 6-3 Sabres. But the presses were stopped even before the first ball was dropped, when Hacker forward John Price announced that he would not be able to suit up for the Hackers due to suspected bruised ribs -- an injury that he incurred earlier in the week. Until Thursday, Price had played every game in the history of the Hackers: all 81 of them. Price, the Wayne Gretzky and the Doug Jarvis of the FHL, ends his streak holding almost every major scoring record in the league. In fact, Price has incredibly scored almost 200 more points than the number two all-time leading scorer in league history.

Hackers captain John Dulong must not have fancied his team's chances when he also heard that Rookie of the Year candidate Donnie Bailey would also be unable to play. But Dulong has carried his team on his broad shoulders in the past, and tonight he would do the same.

The game began like a typical heavyweight fight, with both teams feeling each other out, and neither team scoring early. But as the first period progressed, the Sabres emerged as the dominant team -- controlling the play and getting the better of the scoring opportunities. And it was the Sabres' leading scorer Damien Ho who knocked in the game's first goal to give the Hackers the early lead. Despite outshooting the Hackers 14-12 in the first, the Sabres were only able take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

In the second period, the Hackers played inspired hockey, thanks to terrific backstopping by Dulong. The Hackers brought the streaking Sabres down to earth in the second, outscoring them 4-0, thanks in part to Jamie Houghton's second and third goals of the game.

When Houghton scored again, only 20 seconds into the final frame, the Hackers had a 6-2 lead and seemed destined for their seventh regular season title. The Sabres, on the other hand, entered the game hoping for at least a tie, for a loss would mean that they would finish in third place overall, and more importantly would not get a first round bye. With that knowledge in mind, the Sabres played desperate hockey. Sabres defenseman Dan Culligan led the Sabres comeback, scoring an important goal 15 seconds after Houghton's goal. His seeing-eye shot beat a screened Dulong from behind half to cut the lead to 6-3.

Minutes later, Culligan doubled his pleasure, scoring his second of the game to cut the lead to 6-4. The Hackers, on their heels for the first time since the first period, succumbed to another Sabre defenseman's shot, when a laser beam from Dennis Drapeau found its way through Dulong's pads to make it a one goal game.

With the score 6-5 Hackers and the seconds ticking down, the Sabres were frantic to score one more goal to prevent a quarterfinal showdown against the Chill. And with only 30 seconds left in the game, the Sabres' prayers were answered when Chad Griffin scored his 18th, and most important goal of the season, to tie the game at six. But the Sabres were not content with a tie, as Spiro Bokolas remarkably batted home a ball during a last second scramble to give the Sabres a 7-6 victory. Bokolas' goal, scored with only 8 seconds left in the final regular season game, ensured that the Sabres finished first overall for the second consecutive season, and more importantly will be the top seed in the playoffs.

Despite the loss, the Hackers finished in second place, frustrating all critics who had said that this would be the year that the Hackers would finally slip to mediocrity. Hacker captain and goalie John Dulong was named the game's top star for his aggressive and often spectacular goaltending that kept the Sabres in check for most of the game. Dulong started himself after a tremendous substitute performance in the previous week by Terry Davison, whose net-minding efforts earned him the number three star for week nine. Houghton ended the game with four of the six Hackers' goals and finished the season fifth in the scoring race with 48 points -- 31 more than he had scored for the Sabres a year ago as a rookie.

After missing the first four games of the season, Sabre captain Chris McMaster ended the season by breaking seasonal goaltender records for best save percentage and goals against average (89.2%; 4.67 GAA).

The Sabres will play either the Keane Chill on Thursday, December 5th at 9PM, or the winner of the Lynx-Fire game on Monday, December 9th at 9PM, depending on the victor of Monday's Slayer-Chill quarterfinal. The Hackers will play either the Slayers on Thursday, December 5th at 9PM, or the winner of the Lynx-Fire game on Monday, December 9th at 9PM, also dependant on the victor of Monday's Slayer-Chill quarterfinal.

Lynx defeat Chill 13-9; Joyce Wrests Scoring Title from Price with 7 Goals

Fifth place was technically on the line in Thursday's early game, when the sixth place Chill met the fifth place ADC Lynx. The Lynx started their fourth different goaltender of the year, Jason Fitzgerald, who was making his first career appearance in goal. Also a surprise starter for the Lynx was Blaise MacPhee, who was playing in only his second game of the season, after missing eight straight games. The Lynx's 2002B lineup anomalies have led fans to speculate that captain Richard Wannamaker has been intentionally tanking some of the regular season games in hopes of getting a better draft position in next season's draft.

The Chill on the other hand, have had their own share of line-up difficulties. When Jason Royal went down with a broken finger in their previous week's game, they were forced to bring number two all-time assists leader Mike Sasco out of retirement. Signed to a one-game contract with an option for the playoffs, Sasco made an immediate impact to the Chill lineup. He assisted on the Chill's first goal and scored the second, as the Chill opened up a 2-0 lead. The Chill went on to lead 4-1 before the Lynx fought back to close the gap to 4-3 in the first intermission.

The Chill, short on substitutes, seemed to noticeably tire in the second period, as the Lynx outscored the Chill 6-3 in the period, led by a natural hat-trick by Chris Davison.

The Lynx continued to press in the final period, thanks in no small part to the new found scoring touch of Mike Hashem. Hashem finished the game with 4 goals and 3 assists in leading his team to a 13-9 victory. Tony Joyce led the Chill with seven goals, enough to put him on par with John Price for the league's scoring lead with 56 points for the season. But because Joyce scored 39 goals to Price's 31, Joyce will be awarded the scoring title.

The Chill will play their quarterfinal game against the Sunnydale Slayers on Monday night at 9pm, while the Lynx will play their quarterfinal game against the Keane Fire on Thursday night at 8pm.