By Ray Parrillo INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Dominik Hasek wants his space. The problem for the Buffalo Sabres goalie, though, is this: The Flyers covet the same territory.

And so far in this first-round Eastern Conference series, which became more contentious with Game 2 last night at the Spectrum, the Flyers have won squatters' rights in front of the guy whose name is the most recent one engraved on the Vezina Trophy.

Mostly, it's a matter of beef.

More and more, hockey has become a big man's game, which probably means the 11th first-round exit for the smallish Sabres in the last 12 years.

The disparity in size was remarkably evident during one sequence of bumps and thumps early in the second period of the Flyers' 3-1 win last night.

John LeClair, the Flyers' 220-pound winger with the Popeye forearms and oak-tree legs, rooted himself in front of Hasek, practically blotting out the view of the 165-pound goalie. Sabres defenseman Craig Muni tried to dislodge LeClair, who casually flipped him over like a rag doll.

Craning his neck for a look at the puck, Hasek slammed his stick on the ice in apparent frustration. You can't stop what you can't see.

And for much of the night, that's the way it went. Sabres strained to nudge Flyers out of Hasek's way. Sabres labored to fight through forechecks. Even without 6-foot-4, 235-pound Eric Lindros, the Flyers dwarfed the Sabres.

“Their two big guys, especially, are hard to handle,” Sabres coach John Muckier said of LeClair and linemate Mikael Renberg. “And they're not only big and strong, but they're talented. But I thought we did a much better job of protecting Dorn than we did in the first game. Our problem is we just can't score.”

Despite the human obstructions, Hasek managed to keep the Sabres in the game, flicking out his arms and legs for some acrobatic saves. But like last year, when his 1.61 goals-against average wasn't good enough to beat New Jersey in a first-round series that went seven games — eight if you include overtime — he would have to be darn near perfect for Buffalo to survive the series.

His teammates have gotten him four goals in 130 minutes of play.

“No, it doesn't bother me,” Hasek said when asked if LeClair was getting on his nerves. “After the action, I leave it behind and focus again.”

When this series began, the one edge the Sabres seemed to have was in the nets, which is the best place to start for a team looking to pull off an upset. But Flyers goalie Ron Hextall has jacked up his game and, unlike the peaceful Hasek, Hextall is willing to use a menacing stick to mark his territory.

“I don't know about [Sunday's game],” Hasek said, “but tonight he played better than me.”

“He definitely made some big saves, and at other times we made him look good,” said Buffalo center Bob Sweeney. “We have to sustain more pressure on him. But Philly's playing a very strong defensive game. We have to do more to get through their forechecks.”

Responding to an accusation by Flyers coach Terry Murray that the Sabres were dive-bombing at Hextall to unnerve him, Muckier said, “That's not true at all.”

Meantime, Sweeney was unwilling to concede that the Flyers' size has been much of a factor in the series.
“I think if you look at the tapes and look at the hits that were made, I think you'll see we're holding our own,” he said. “Their size does make it a little harder for us to get to the net, but I don't think it's that big a factor. It's a game of mistakes, and we're making too many of them right now.”

Despite his predicament, Muckier maintained his sense of humor. Asked what precipitated a verbal confrontation he had with one of the paying customers during the game, Muckier laughed.

“This guy was leaning over the glass hollering in my ear, so I asked a security guard to make him sit down,” he said. “The security guard tells me the guy paid his money, so he should be allowed to holler.

“So I called the referee over, and he tells the security guard to make the guy sit down. The security guard tells the referee the same thing he told me, that the guy has a ticket, so he can holler.

“Then there was the referee and the security guard arguing about it. Eventually, the guy sat down.”