BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Moscow Dynamo hockey team completed its four-game tour of NHL cities Wednesday night with a 7-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres despite a second straight bomb threat.
Buffalo police said a bomb threat was phoned in to Memorial Auditorium prior to the 7:30 p.m. start of the game.
Police said the caller said there was a bomb in a red receptacle in the basement. Officials swept through the area, but did not find anything, unlike the Boston Garden incident two nights ago, in which a hand grenade was found and picketers protested outside.
No major incidents occurred in Buffalo and no groups or individuals demonstrated their objections to the match.
Vasily Pervukhin snapped a tie with the game-winning goal midway through the third period and Mikhail Varnakov added two goals and two assists to lead the Dynamo.
The game featured few penalties (three for Buffalo and one Moscow) and a lot of skilled passing.
Sabre defenseman Mike Ramsey, who played on the 1980 U.S. Olympic squad that beat a Soviet team, said the Dynamo was their toughest competition so far this season.
'Talent-wise, I think it's the best team we've played all year,' he said. 'They've got their skilled hockey players, they've got their system and they know how to play it. This team played better than the team we (Olympic team) beat, but they're similar in style.'
Moscow finished the series 2-1-1. This was the first loss to a Soviet team for the Sabres, which won a 1976 game 12-6 against the Soviet Wings and a 6-1 victory over the Soviet Army team in 1980.
Defenseman Pervukhin's hard 40-foot slapshot broke the 4-4 tie at 10:57 of the final period, sending it past rookie goalie Jacques Cloutier and snapping the 4-4 tie.
Varnakov scored a power-play goal into the right side with 3:01 remaining in the game for the insurance score, and Nikolai Varyanov added a short-handed, empty-net goal with 34 seconds left to close the scoring.
Sergei Svetlov drew the Soviets into the tie at 8:57 when he put Varnakov's pass into the side of the net.
Larry Playfair's 20-footer at 5:35 had brought Buffalo within 3-2.
Mike Foligno scored two minutes later to tie the score 3-3 and Norm Lacombe picked up a deflection in front at 8:06 to give Buffalo its first lead.
The game was good entertainment and a learning experience according to Foligno.
'It's entertainment, not just for the fans, but for the players themselves,' said the veteran forward. Change is always good. As a team and individuals we can pick up pointers. It's a learning experience and the loss can benefit us,' he added.
Playfair found the entertainment to be a bit physical.
'Soviet hockey players are the strongest hockey players I've ever played against,' said the defenseman turned winger for the game.
'They must spend a lot of time off-ice on weights and physical conditioning because, boy, one guy threw me around in the corner like a rag doll.'
After a scoreless first period, the Dynamo took a 3-1 second period lead.
Nikolai Varyanov opened the scoring from in front of the Buffalo net at 12:09.
Sergei Yashin tipped in Varnakov's shot 98 seconds later while Cloutier was facing the other way.
Paul Cyr's shot from the right corner boards went in off the skate of Varyanov and past goaltender Vladimir Myshkin, bringing Buffalo within 2-1.
Varnakov beat Cloutier to the far side from 25-feet out with 1:50 remaining in the second, putting Moscow ahead 3-1.
