Florida Panthers goaltender Trevor Kidd has the worst goatee in hockey. "The Kidder" could play the villain in the next "Batman" movie, with a blonde puff of hair coming off his chin surrounded by dark stubble, serving as a visual deterrent to anyone who dares to get close enough to harm him.
On Friday night Kidd masqueraded as "the impenetrable wall" in the Panthers' 2-0 shutout win over the Buffalo Sabres before 17,568 fans at HSBC Arena. He picked up his first win of the season after stopping all 31 Buffalo shots.
"The guys played well in front of me," Kidd said. "We played with confidence with the lead and that was nice to see."
Viktor Kozlov scored both Florida goals, each in the second period, accounting for goals five and six for him this season. Kozlov batted a rebound out of the air and into the open side of the net past Buffalo goalie Martin Biron after a shot from Peter Worrell, making the score 2-0 at the 18:09 mark of the second period.
Much was made of an anticipated "fight night" after the two clubs played a very physical, and oftentimes dirty, game Monday night in Florida. There were no fights, however, on this night. The only thing the Panthers' tough guy Worrell did during the game, besides pick up an assist on the second Kozlov goal, was goad Sabre forward Rob Ray into a 10-minute misconduct penalty late in the third period.
For most of the game the Sabres had the upper hand on Florida, out-shooting them 31-18. Buffalo, however, failed to light the lamp on any of their five power plays.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said his team did not deserve to win after failing to do the little things right.
"It was a game where you've got to get your nose a little bit bloody, you might have to block a few shots, you might have to take a couple for the team," he said. "There were opportunities to try and win battles and pucks were thrown away. There were guys who had opportunities to finish checks and didn't finish those checks. We were our own worst enemy."
The Sabres' offensive woes continued Saturday night at the Fleet Center in Boston where they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Bruins.
Maxim Afinogenov scored Buffalo's only goal during a two-man advantage in the second period.
Boston forward Jamie Rivers scored his second goal of the game at the 8:18 mark of the second period. The goal proved to be the game-winner.
Bill Guerin scored the other goal for the Bruins, who won their third straight game. The Sabres, meanwhile, have lost three in a row.
Bob Essensa got the start in goal for Buffalo and stopped 24 of 27 shots. His counterpart, Byron Dafoe made 20 saves.
