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Maple Leafs leave Senators speechless in defeat
Ottawa, Feb 08: The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in a wild overtime contest.
Ottawa, Feb 08: The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in a wild overtime contest.
Owen Nolan's goal with 31 seconds remaining in overtime capped a set of five unanswered goals, as the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied for an improbable 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators at the Corel Centre. Darcy Tucker, Mikael Renberg, Mats Sundin and Matt Stajan all scored for Toronto, which improved to 6-2 in its last eight overall. Bryan McCabe had four assists while Tomas Kaberle posted a pair of helpers in the victory. Toronto starting goaltender Ed Belfour continued to rest his sore back, giving way to Trevor Kidd. Kidd allowed four goals on 30 shots for the Maple Leafs, who head into the All-Star break with 71 points, one shy of the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Flyers (72). Daniel Alfredsson and Josh Langfeld each posted a goal and an assist for the Senators, who have lost three straight games (0-2-0-1). Martin Havlat and Brian Pothier also scored for Ottawa.
Ottawa, which now has 67 total points heading into the break, received a less- than-stellar effort from Patrick Lalime, who was steady early but fell apart as the game wore on. Lalime ended with 22 saves on 27 shots.
The setback to Toronto was the second in the past week for the Senators, who were pounded by the Leafs 5-1 in a very physical game in Toronto on Saturday. Ottawa's 12-game home unbeaten streak was halted (10-0-2-1).
After tying the game at four apiece late in the third period, the Leafs battled during the entire overtime, but could not beat Lalime. Finally, with under a minute to play, Kaberle hustled down the left side and left the puck for Nolan, whose slap shot from the top of the left circle flew into the goal as Toronto skated off with the 5-4 victory.
Ottawa muscled its way out of the gate and scored three times in the first period to take control.
Before the first line change took place, the Senators were already on the scoreboard. After the opening faceoff, the puck went behind the Toronto goal. When a clearing attempt by Kidd failed, Peter Schaefer ended up with control of the puck and fed across the crease to Alfredsson, who was all alone at the left post and deposited his 24th goal of the season just 13 seconds in.
In the middle portion of the first session, a pair of power-play goals staked the Senators to a 3-0 lead. First, when Leafs blueliner Aki Berg took a double-minor, a stuff attempt at the left post was stopped by Kidd, but a scramble ensued in front of the net. Eventually, Havlat gained control and lifted the puck upstairs from in close at the 9:22 mark.
Over three minutes later, another penalty proved costly for Toronto, as Pothier wound up from the left point and blasted home a one-timer. The goal, Pothier's second of the season, came with 7:28 to play in the first.
When Langfeld scored on the power play 3:52 into the second for a 4-0 Ottawa lead, it seemed to be all over except for the fighting.
However, the Leafs rallied for three straight goals over the duration of the second period to bring themselves within one.
Tucker started it off midway through when he tallied his 15th of the season from Robert Reichel and McCabe.
In the latter part of the stanza, Toronto scored twice in under two minutes. At the 15:55 mark, Nik Antropov picked up the puck behind the net, skated around the right circle and fed a nifty pass to Renberg, who punched in his 10th goal from the left post.
Soon after, with 2:22 to play in the period, the Maple Leafs found the net again. Nolan threw a weak backhander on goal from the left-wing boards, but Lalime could not close his glove on it. The disc then trickled along the goal line before Stajan reached around and tucked it in from the right side of the crease.
The Maple Leafs trailed by a goal late in the third period, but tied it up at 4-4, courtesy of a great play by Kaberle at the 14:57 mark.
Kaberle streaked down the left side and faked a shot at the face off that put Lalime completely out of position. He then skated behind the net and fed a pass out to Sundin, who wound up from the right circle and easily lit the lamp into an open net with just over five minutes to play in regulation.
Standings after National Hockey League games played on Thursday: EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC DIVISION W L T OTL GF GA PTS Philadelphia 28 12 11 5 158 123 72 New Jersey 28 14 10 1 123 100 67 NY Islanders 26 21 5 2 153 135 59 NY Rangers 20 24 7 4 143 157 51 Pittsburgh 11 36 5 3 109 207 30 NORTHEAST DIVISION Toronto 30 14 8 3 152 131 71 Boston 27 14 11 4 142 128 69 Ottawa 28 15 7 4 180 120 67 Montreal 28 20 6 2 139 123 64 Buffalo 23 26 5 1 132 141 52 SOUTHEAST DIVISION Tampa Bay 28 17 6 3 147 119 65 Atlanta 21 27 6 2 150 170 50 Florida 18 23 11 3 122 150 50 Carolina 17 26 10 2 105 138 46 Washington 17 31 5 2 129 173 41 WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL DIVISION Detroit 31 15 8 2 181 131 72 St Louis 26 20 7 1 129 134 60 Nashville 26 20 6 2 130 142 60 Columbus 15 28 8 3 112 153 41 Chicago 14 29 7 5 125 163 40 NORTHWEST DIVISION Colorado 30 11 9 4 167 123 73 Vancouver 31 15 7 3 168 127 72 Calgary 26 20 5 3 132 123 60 Minnesota 19 20 15 2 123 125 55 Edmonton 22 24 8 1 141 144 63 PACIFIC DIVISION San Jose 26 13 11 5 138 111 68 Dallas 27 20 9 0 118 122 63 Los Angeles 21 15 13 5 145 139 60 Phoenix 18 19 14 3 136 148 53 Anaheim 17 23 8 7 119 148 49 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)
Bureau Report
Owen Nolan's goal with 31 seconds remaining in overtime capped a set of five unanswered goals, as the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied for an improbable 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators at the Corel Centre. Darcy Tucker, Mikael Renberg, Mats Sundin and Matt Stajan all scored for Toronto, which improved to 6-2 in its last eight overall. Bryan McCabe had four assists while Tomas Kaberle posted a pair of helpers in the victory. Toronto starting goaltender Ed Belfour continued to rest his sore back, giving way to Trevor Kidd. Kidd allowed four goals on 30 shots for the Maple Leafs, who head into the All-Star break with 71 points, one shy of the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Flyers (72). Daniel Alfredsson and Josh Langfeld each posted a goal and an assist for the Senators, who have lost three straight games (0-2-0-1). Martin Havlat and Brian Pothier also scored for Ottawa.
Ottawa, which now has 67 total points heading into the break, received a less- than-stellar effort from Patrick Lalime, who was steady early but fell apart as the game wore on. Lalime ended with 22 saves on 27 shots.
The setback to Toronto was the second in the past week for the Senators, who were pounded by the Leafs 5-1 in a very physical game in Toronto on Saturday. Ottawa's 12-game home unbeaten streak was halted (10-0-2-1).
After tying the game at four apiece late in the third period, the Leafs battled during the entire overtime, but could not beat Lalime. Finally, with under a minute to play, Kaberle hustled down the left side and left the puck for Nolan, whose slap shot from the top of the left circle flew into the goal as Toronto skated off with the 5-4 victory.
Ottawa muscled its way out of the gate and scored three times in the first period to take control.
Before the first line change took place, the Senators were already on the scoreboard. After the opening faceoff, the puck went behind the Toronto goal. When a clearing attempt by Kidd failed, Peter Schaefer ended up with control of the puck and fed across the crease to Alfredsson, who was all alone at the left post and deposited his 24th goal of the season just 13 seconds in.
In the middle portion of the first session, a pair of power-play goals staked the Senators to a 3-0 lead. First, when Leafs blueliner Aki Berg took a double-minor, a stuff attempt at the left post was stopped by Kidd, but a scramble ensued in front of the net. Eventually, Havlat gained control and lifted the puck upstairs from in close at the 9:22 mark.
Over three minutes later, another penalty proved costly for Toronto, as Pothier wound up from the left point and blasted home a one-timer. The goal, Pothier's second of the season, came with 7:28 to play in the first.
When Langfeld scored on the power play 3:52 into the second for a 4-0 Ottawa lead, it seemed to be all over except for the fighting.
However, the Leafs rallied for three straight goals over the duration of the second period to bring themselves within one.
Tucker started it off midway through when he tallied his 15th of the season from Robert Reichel and McCabe.
In the latter part of the stanza, Toronto scored twice in under two minutes. At the 15:55 mark, Nik Antropov picked up the puck behind the net, skated around the right circle and fed a nifty pass to Renberg, who punched in his 10th goal from the left post.
Soon after, with 2:22 to play in the period, the Maple Leafs found the net again. Nolan threw a weak backhander on goal from the left-wing boards, but Lalime could not close his glove on it. The disc then trickled along the goal line before Stajan reached around and tucked it in from the right side of the crease.
The Maple Leafs trailed by a goal late in the third period, but tied it up at 4-4, courtesy of a great play by Kaberle at the 14:57 mark.
Kaberle streaked down the left side and faked a shot at the face off that put Lalime completely out of position. He then skated behind the net and fed a pass out to Sundin, who wound up from the right circle and easily lit the lamp into an open net with just over five minutes to play in regulation.
Standings after National Hockey League games played on Thursday: EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC DIVISION W L T OTL GF GA PTS Philadelphia 28 12 11 5 158 123 72 New Jersey 28 14 10 1 123 100 67 NY Islanders 26 21 5 2 153 135 59 NY Rangers 20 24 7 4 143 157 51 Pittsburgh 11 36 5 3 109 207 30 NORTHEAST DIVISION Toronto 30 14 8 3 152 131 71 Boston 27 14 11 4 142 128 69 Ottawa 28 15 7 4 180 120 67 Montreal 28 20 6 2 139 123 64 Buffalo 23 26 5 1 132 141 52 SOUTHEAST DIVISION Tampa Bay 28 17 6 3 147 119 65 Atlanta 21 27 6 2 150 170 50 Florida 18 23 11 3 122 150 50 Carolina 17 26 10 2 105 138 46 Washington 17 31 5 2 129 173 41 WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL DIVISION Detroit 31 15 8 2 181 131 72 St Louis 26 20 7 1 129 134 60 Nashville 26 20 6 2 130 142 60 Columbus 15 28 8 3 112 153 41 Chicago 14 29 7 5 125 163 40 NORTHWEST DIVISION Colorado 30 11 9 4 167 123 73 Vancouver 31 15 7 3 168 127 72 Calgary 26 20 5 3 132 123 60 Minnesota 19 20 15 2 123 125 55 Edmonton 22 24 8 1 141 144 63 PACIFIC DIVISION San Jose 26 13 11 5 138 111 68 Dallas 27 20 9 0 118 122 63 Los Angeles 21 15 13 5 145 139 60 Phoenix 18 19 14 3 136 148 53 Anaheim 17 23 8 7 119 148 49 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)
Bureau Report