Home >  Sports >  Penguins

Saturday, May 05, 2001

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Miroslav Satan is a tantalizing talent.

He is 6 feet 3, 192 pounds, strong enough to ram an opponent through the boards, nimble on his skates, creative with the puck and deadly accurate with his shot.

But he doesn't view himself as the Buffalo Sabres' primary offensive weapon. He never has in his six years with the team, and he won't start now that he's leading his club in scoring during the Stanley Cup playoffs with three goals and nine assists, the same number of points as Mario Lemieux.

	SATAN-IC NUMBERS Playoff stats for Buffalo's Miroslav Satan: Category No. Games 10 Goals 3 Assists 9 Shots 32 Points 12 Plus-minus +6

"Just look around," Satan said. "We have so many guys here. I can go through the whole roster. Any of these guys can score goals. One line does it one night, another does it the next night. I expect to be a help for the team. That's all."

Satan's teammates will tell you he has done more than help, having generated far more offense against the Penguins than his goal and two assists would suggest.

"He's just flying out there, and it's all over the rink," center Stu Barnes said. "And the things he can do on offense ... it's amazing how skilled he is."

"When Miro's going like he is, everybody notices," center Doug Gilmour said. "You just try to get that guy the puck. He can do some special things with it."

Satan, 26, is in his seventh NHL season, having reached 40 goals once, 30 goals twice, and he has topped the Sabres in points three of the past four years.

But he also carries a reputation for failing to elevate his game for the playoffs, having produced just 11 goals in 38 games before this year. And that's a tag he is eager to shake, judging by the extra spring in his step this spring.

Satan served notice on his first shift of this series, making a darting move into the high slot and clanging a hard wrister off the left pipe behind Johan Hedberg. That game and the next were frustrating for him, as he squandered several golden opportunities, but his skates never stopped churning.

He broke through in the next two. In Game 3, he scored on a sensational backhand wraparound, prompting Coach Lindy Ruff to say, "It's the kind of thing you expect from players like Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Miro, just a very special play." And in Game 4, Satan made a slick lateral pass to set up center Curtis Brown's tap-in for a short-handed goal.

"It's great for our team, not just for me, that we got some goals," he said. "In the first two games, we weren't able to create a lot. And, when we did have chances, we weren't able to score goals. We know now that it's possible. It's not just in the back of our minds anymore."

Satan's productivity has been aided by a shuffle in Buffalo's lines. Before Game 3, Ruff created a new No. 1 unit of Satan, Gilmour and speedy right winger Maxim Afinogenov, and the combination seemed to click immediately.

"We're making some good things happen," Satan said. "Max and Doug are such great players, and I think there is some chemistry there."

As much as Satan has contributed to the attack, he hasn't allowed his two-way play to suffer, as evidenced by his team-best plus-6 rating.

"I think that says a lot about him," Barnes said. "A guy as gifted as he is, he could very easily get shuffled aside in our system that's defense first, but he comes back as hard as anyone. And he still gets the job done on offense. You know, this guy's not playing on a team that scores a ton of goals, but he still manages to get his 30 or 40 every year. He's still our best offensive player."

Satan seems to be grasping that concept, if not completely embracing it.

"I was the guy who was doing the scoring for this team the past couple of years, and I know that. I like to have that role. I like to be able to contribute. But I am not the only one."