[0] HASEK ZEROES IN ON DUCKS AGAIN ANAHEIM OFFENSE STAYS INVISIBLE BUFFALO 4, DUCKS 0.

Byline: Frank Welch  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - There is speculation that Buffalo Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek will retire at the conclusion of this season. The Ducks would like to see him leave sooner.

For the third time in his 11 career games against Anaheim, Hasek shut out the Ducks, this time beating them 4-0 before an announced crowd of 13,372 Friday at The Pond.

Hasek, who lost to the Kings 3-2 the night before, hasn't always done his best work against the Ducks, sporting a modest 5-4-2 career record and a 2.25 goals-against average against them.

However, Hasek didn't exactly need to be The Dominator against a current Ducks team that is minus injured scoring threats Paul Kariya, Steve Rucchin and Mike Leclerc.

Hasek stopped 21 shots during a rather stress-free night's work.

Anaheim (14-21-6-4) had trouble creating offense for the 10th straight game. Kariya has missed each of those games because of a cracked bone in his foot. The Ducks are 1-6-2-1 during that span and have been outscored 33-19.

The Anaheim season likely ended for all intents and purposes on Dec. 17, the day Kariya was seen limping around the dressing room following a 3-1 victory over Tampa Bay. The Ducks won their season-high third in a row that night.

Now, instead of trying to look at what's ahead of them in the Western Conference, it might not be a bad idea for the Ducks to check the rear-view mirror a bit more often. Only the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets can be found behind them.

The Ducks, who begin a three-game road trip on Sunday morning against Carolina, are 14th in the 15-team Western Conference with 38 points in 45 games. The expansion Minnesota Wild has 38 points, as well, but in two fewer games. Columbus has 32 points.

Buffalo got goals from Miroslav Satan, Dave Andreychuk, Chris Gratton and Maxim Afinogenov in each of the three periods. Satan and Andreychuk's goals came within 2:19 of each other during the mid-portion of the final period. That doubled the Sabres' two-goal lead through two periods.

Buffalo (22-15-5-1) gave Hasek a two-goal cushion 65 seconds into the second period when Gratton scored his fourth goal in as many games.

Defenseman Rhett Warrener dumped a shot on net from just inside the blueline. Gratton, parked in front, eventually gathered in the puck and put it past Anaheim goalie Guy Hebert's glove side.

Hasek was tested some in the second period, but the Ducks' chances were limited to one shot and very few rebounds. Anaheim had 15 shots through the first two periods. The Sabres had 17 shots.

The Ducks played a relatively solid first period, with one exception. It was costly.

Buffalo scored the only goal of the period when Afinogenov left Anaheim defenseman Jason Marshall in the dust by putting a nice fake-the- shot-and-go move on the Ducks' defender. Afinogenov then sent a shot between the legs of Hebert.