NHL goal should be more goals

Here are some statistics from the just-concluded regular seasonthat should send league brass scurrying to find a way to make gamesless boring.Goals per game were down seven percent, an average of 5.83 per gamevs. 6.29 last season.Power-play goals were down 18 percent (505 fewer) from the previousseason.There were a record 127 shutouts, breaking the mark of 99 set in1993-94.Thirty-three of the league's goalies had goals-against averagesthat would have led the NHL in 1986-87, when goalie Brian Haywardhad a 2.81 GAA.There was a 60 percent increase in video-review plays this season.A total of 421 plays were reviewed, including 209 cases to determineif a player was in the crease when a goal was scored.The average length of games was 2:39.The average attendance was a record 16,548, 93 percent of theleague's average arena capacity.

CHARMED, WE'RE SURE: The Sabres-Senators playoff seriesincludes two icons.

The Senators have adopted a small Buddha, a symbol for luck,and have used it down the stretch and into the playoffs.The Sabres have been going with the story of the rare whitebuffalo (which appears on their sweaters and is a part of NativeAmerican lore). Asked who had the more powerful image, Buffalo coachTed Nolan said the white buffalo can kick the stuffing out of aBuddha.The story of the white buffalo is very powerful in Nolan'sNative American culture. The lore is that if one is born, goodthings will follow.Nolan keeps a picture of one in his office and reports one wasborn recently in the Midwest and hundreds of thousands have flockedto see it.