Ex-Penguins goaltender Andy Chiodo happy to see Sabres break losing streak

Andy Chiodo was happy to see two losing streaks come to an end Wednesday.

First and foremost, he was eager to see the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins snap a seven-game skid with a 3-2 overtime road win against the Binghamton Devils.

Considering Chiodo is the Penguins’ goaltending development coach, his interest in their success is obvious.

But he was also pleased to see the Buffalo Sabres win.

Their 6-1 home win against the Philadelphia Flyers snapped an 18-game losing streak that tied a mark for futility established by the 2003-04 Penguins.

Chiodo was in net for a handful of those games.

He did not want to see the Sabres claim the record for themselves.

“As an athlete, as a coach, as a human being, you don’t really want to see anybody go through a stretch like that,” Chiodo said by phone. “I don’t know if ‘indifferent’ is the right word, but I didn’t hold any feeling of them breaking the streak or not. You’re almost just more kind of looking in with some curiosity as how long can it go and how are they going to come out of it and how it’s going to shake out.

“If anything, watching that streak, more than thinking about what that streak meant to Buffalo, you’re looking at it and kind of reflecting a little bit about how our group kind of went through a similar experience back in the day. But I wanted them to end it. Because you don’t want anybody to go through that. That’s a lot of (difficulty) on so many levels. … They gave up a 3-0 lead the game before. You’ve just got to get out of it. You don’t want that for any athlete.”

After a 2-1 road win against the Flyers on Jan. 12, 2004, the Penguins went 0-17-1 over the next six weeks.

Chiodo got his first recall to the NHL club during the fourth week of the streak.

“When you lose that many games in a row, you end up losing in all kinds of different ways,” Chiodo said. “It was tough to see, it was tough organizationally. It was my first NHL call-up so there was a lot of positive energy that I felt, going up on a personal level. I just kind of had the approach to bring a really positive attitude, a lot of energy and try to be solid up there and give them a chance.”

Before the 2003-04 Penguins claimed their place in history, the record for the longest losing streak in NHL history was shared by the 1974-75 Washington Capitals and 1992-93 San Jose Sharks — each expansion teams — at 17 consecutive games.

Those Penguins knew they were stumbling into history.

“Similarly, as you see here with Buffalo, as it gets closer, there are parallels to other teams who have been in those situations being drawn,” Chiodo said. “And you see where you rank in those slides and skids. Everybody has a lot of pride and nobody wants to be a part of that. Guys were aware, for sure.”

The Penguins finally broke their streak with a 4-3 overtime road win against the then Phoenix Coyotes. An overtime goal by defenseman Ric Jackman secured victory while Chiodo made 28 saves on 31 shots for his first career victory.

“We had our rookie party in Arizona with a day off in between (games),” Chiodo said. “I thought there was a lot of good camaraderie and good energy. There was a feeling of some optimism. There was some good energy around the guys. Going into that game in Phoenix, I felt the same way. I felt that the group was ready to end that streak. We were down in the game. … But there was a sense that there was no quit, guys were playing hard, guys were killing penalties, guys were engaged in between periods. I remember (former Penguins forward) Ryan Malone being incredibly positive in between periods and vocal. There was a sense that we could come out of it that night and we did it in overtime.”

After Jackman deflected a point shot by defenseman Dick Tarnstrom to claim victory, the Penguins rushed off the bench to mob Jackman and celebrated as if they had won a playoff series.

“For many guys, there was a sense of relief, there was excitement,” Chiodo said. “There were so many games in that streak that the team could have easily won. That’s a challenging feeling night in and night to put an effort forth and not get a result. … I think there was a little bit of optimism too that the team could win and it was a good feeling across the board.”

More than 17 years later, Chiodo knows what the Sabres feel like.

Winners.

“You can’t recreate that feeling of winning,” Chiodo said. “You have to earn wins. … That’s why we play this game, to compete and to win. So for the group to be able to win that hockey game and put an end to that — challenging is an understatement — time period, there was going to be natural elation and excitement.”

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