GAME SUMMARIES
Updated: Saturday April 17, 1999 10:05PM EST
Saturday April 17, 1999 Toronto at Montreal
Martin Rucinsky and Brian Savage scored third-period goals as the Montreal Canadiens completed a dismal season with a 3-2 victory over the archrival and playoff-bound Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Canadiens will miss the postseason for the second time in five years but only the third time since 1948. But they ended a four-game winless streak in their regular-season finale while capturing the season series from Toronto, 3-2.
Montreal trailed after one period, 2-1, but tied it 5:26 into the second on Rucinsky's 17th goal. He took a pass from Jonas Hoglund in front of the net and put the puck between goaltender Curtis Joseph's pads for only his second goal since March 2.
Just under three minutes later, Savage moved into tie for the team lead with his fourth game-winner. Saku Koivu won a faceoff in the Maple Leafs zone and found Dainius Zubrus at the outer edge of the right circle. Zubrus found Savage, who deked Joseph down before beating him low to the stick side for his 16th goal.
Jeff Hackett, who started the season with Chicago, stopped 25 shots for the Canadiens, evening his overall record at 26-26-10.
Joseph made only 13 saves for the Maple Leafs, who already set a team record for wins and will be the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Toronto's first-round opponent will be Philadelphia or Boston.
Wednesday April 14, 1999 Ny Islanders at Toronto
Felix Potvin left the game with the first star, but Bryan Berard skated away with the two points. Potvin made 35 saves in his first game against his former team, but was beaten by Berard 42 seconds into overtime as the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied to beat the New York Islanders 3-2 Wednesday night.
"It was tough to lose," Potvin said. "Especially with a 2-1 lead with five minutes to play."
Potvin, who was traded for Berard last Jan. 9 after becoming the backup to free agent Curtis Joseph, didn't see the irony in the winning goal.
"That's just part of the game, wherever it is," Potvin said. "A goal is a goal, you lose the game."
Steve Thomas set up Mats Sundin on a 2-on-2 rush to tie the game with 3:12 left in the third period. Thomas then set up Berard on a two-on-one rush in the opening minute of overtime for the winner.
"It felt good, that's for sure," said Berard, who was named third star. "It was a little more special because it came against the Islanders. Felix played a great game, though."
Mats Lindgren had a goal and an assist for New York and Mariusz Czerkawski scored his 20th of the season.
Garry Valk had the other Toronto goal as the Maple Leafs clinched fourth place in the Eastern Conference and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The victory was the Maple Leafs' franchise-high 45th, breaking the record set by the 1992-93 team (44-29-11) that finished with 99 points. Toronto is 45-29-7 this season, with one game left.
"It's a terrific accomplishment," said Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn. "We play more games than some of those old teams, but it's a great achievement for these young men."
Joseph, who made 22 saves, set a club mark for wins in a season with his 35th, surpassing Potvin (1993-94), Mike Palmateer (1977-78) and John Bower (1959-60).
"We have a good team that scores a lot of goals," said Joseph. "It's an honor to win the 35th game."
Potvin has won just five games this season -- three with Toronto and two with the Islanders -- but was out two months with a groin injury. He was coming off a franchise-tying 55-save performance Monday in New Jersey.
"We have young guys who are still learning," Potvin said. "We faced two of the best teams in a row."
The Islanders had the first eight shots of the game and opened the scoring on Lindgren's power-play goal at 6:04.
Valk tied it at 6:58 of the second off a rebound, but Czerkawski put the Islanders back in front when he jammed the puck past Joseph from behind the net.
The Maple Leafs outshot New York 38-24.
Saturday April 10, 1999 Florida at Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs, looking to build momentum heading into the NHL playoffs, were like a tidal wave washing over the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Steve Sullivan scored four goals and Sergei Berezin, Steve Thomas, Mats Sundin, Dimitri Yushkevich and Sylvain Cote added one each as the Leafs beat the Panthers 9-1.
"It just seemed like the guys were really looking for me," Sullivan said. "I felt like I had the puck a lot, and when you have the puck a lot in a hockey game you get confidence and that's what I had."
Toronto's 44th victory tied a club record set in 1992-93. The Leafs have two games left in a bid to equal the club record of 99 points, also set in 1992-93. Toronto has 95 now.
"You want to make sure you're on a winning streak and you're running on all cylinders when you hit the playoffs," Sullivan said. "Right now, with only two games left, you don't want to start playing bad games.
"Even though (Florida) had a lot of injuries we still had to make sure we played our game and we did."
Radek Dvorak scored for a Florida team stripped of 10 injured regulars. The Panthers have lost seven in a row.
Thomas had four assists, including three in the third period to tie a club record. He moved past the 70-point mark for the first time in five years. When he signed with the Leafs as a free agent last summer, he said, he had a notion he was joining a team that could be one of the highest-scoring outfits in the NHL.
"I had in the back of my mind because I knew some of the players," he explained. "But I didn't think to this extreme by any stretch of the imagination.
"And it seems when we get a couple of goals we just want to keep pouring it on. That's a killer instinct that I think is needed if you want to go far in the playoffs."
Yannick Perreault had scored four times in Toronto's 4-1 win over Ottawa on Thursday. Now Sullivan, playing on a line with Tie Domi and Derek King, had contributed four.
"If you look at the best teams in the league and at the team that was winning the Stanley Cup the last two years, they have four lines that contribute offensively," Sundin said. "All the top teams in the league right now have a deep roster and it's something that's helped carry us through this year.
"We are getting scoring from all four lines and I think the coaching staff is asking for the whole team to be creative on the ice. It certainly has been a big part of where we are today."
Thursday April 8, 1999 Toronto at Ottawa
The Ottawa Senators have clinched the Northeast Division, and now they're setting their sights on the Eastern Conference title.
Daniel Alfredsson scored the game winner early in the third period as the Senators clinched their first division title with a 3-1 win over the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
"It's a nice feeling, it was one of our goals," Ottawa defenseman Lance Pitlick said. "Now we're in a position to accomplish a lot more and win the Eastern Conference."
Vaclav Prospal, Daniel Alfredsson and Sami Salo scored for the Senators, who reached the 100-point plateau.
Alfredsson scored the game winner on a power play at 5:43 of the third period.
"It was a lot of fun but it's not over yet," Alfredsson said. "I don't think you can get any closer to playoff games than these two games."
Sergei Berezin scored a short-handed goal in the second period for the Maple Leafs, who trail the Senators by seven points.
The Maple Leafs took the first game of the home-and-home series 4-2 in Toronto on Wednesday, handing Ottawa its first loss in seven games.
"We got very individual in our play," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "They play the sort of game that aggravates you. Our forwards abdicate their responsibility too often and if we continue to do that, it will be a short playoff."
The Senators maintained a three-point lead over the New Jersey Devils atop the Eastern Conference standings. Ottawa has lost only nine of its last 47 games (29-9-9) and is 4-1-3 in its last eight.
Toronto was attempting to tie a club record for wins in a season (44), set in 1992-93.
Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph was also trying to tie the team record for wins in a season (34), currently shared with Johnny Bower, Mike Palmateer and Felix Potvin.
Prospal scored the only goal in a fast-paced first period at 6:28.
Berezin tied the score at 11:52 of the second period. Senators defenseman Igor Kravchuk lost the puck to Berezin, who wheeled away from the Ottawa net, then beat Senators goaltender Ron Tugnutt with his 11th goal in his last 15 games.
Alfredsson scored at 5:43 of the third period, then Salo rounded out the scoring at 8:53.
"It's been a long time since we played the way we did in the third period," Senators goaltender Ron Tugnutt said.
Wednesday April 7, 1999 Ottawa at Toronto
Yanic Perreault scored all four Toronto goals and the Maple Leafs remained in contention for the Northeast Division title with a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night.
Toronto is chasing Ottawa for the top spot in the Northeast Division and the Eastern Conference. The win moved Toronto within five points of the Senators heading into the second game of their home-and-home series on Thursday night.
Alexei Yashin and Marian Hossa scored for Ottawa.
Perreault opened the scoring at 11:17 of the first period when his slapshot from just inside the blue line deflected off the stick of defenseman Wade Redden and beat goalie Damian Rhodes.
With the score tied 1-1 in the second period, Perreault led a 3-on-1 shorthanded charge by the Leafs. He faked a pass, then beat Rhodes high to the glove side at the 14:57 mark.
Perreault put the Leafs ahead 3-1 at 5:12 of the third period with a one-timer off a pass from Sergei Berezin. He scored his fourth goal of the game and 17th of the season at 11:03 when he deflected Sylvain Cote's shot from the point.
It was Perreault's first career four-goal game and the first for a Toronto player since Wendel Clark did it on Nov. 9, 1996.
The Senators pressured the Maple Leafs in the final five minutes as Toronto took three minor penalties in a seven-second span and Ottawa enjoyed a two-man advantage for 1:53 followed by a one-man advantage.
Yashin scored his 44th goal of the season and 400th point of his six-year NHL career on a power play at 6:01 of the second period.
Senators defenseman Janne Laukkanen got a concussion with four seconds left in the second period when he was decked by an elbow from Toronto right wing Mike Johnson, who received a five-minute elbowing major.
Monday April 5, 1999 St. Louis at Toronto
Mats Sundin and Bryan Berard scored 2:11 apart early in the third period to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-2 tie with the St. Louis Blues on Monday night.
St. Louis center Jamal Mayers had the best opportunity to score late in the game and overtime, but was stymied by goalie Curtis Joseph from point-blank range on both occasions.
The Maple Leafs killed off a St. Louis power play in the final minutes of the third period, with Joseph stopping three shots by Al MacInnis from the point.
Lubos Bartecko and Pierre Turgeon, with his 30th goal of the season, scored in the opening six minutes of the game to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
The tie extended Toronto's unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2). The Blues are 8-3-1 in their last 12 road games.
St. Louis goalie Grant Fuhr held the hot hand through two periods, foiling Mike Johnson on a three-way passing play in the closing seconds of the first period and stopping Steve Thomas and Steve Sullivan on back-to-back chances during a Maple Leafs power play in the second.
Sundin scored his 29th goal on a slap shot that beat Fuhr to the glove side at 2:05 of the third. Berard scored the tying goal when he jumped into the rush to take a pass from Sullivan across the high slot at 4:16.
The Blues opened the scoring on the second shift of the game when Bartecko and Pavol Demitra worked a give-and-go to perfection in the Toronto zone. Bartecko deflected in Demitra's pass at the 50-second mark.
St. Louis went ahead 2-0 at 5:39 of the first when Turgeon's wrist shot on a 2-on-1 break hit Joseph's glove, looped into the air and over the goalie's back into the net.
Saturday April 3, 1999 Toronto at Calgary
Mats Sundin and Sergei Berezin each scored twice Saturday night as the Toronto Maple Leafs extended their unbeaten streak to five games, 5-1 over the Calgary Flames.
The Leafs' third straight win strengthened their hold on fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers, who lost their games earlier in the day, now trail Toronto by four points.
Both of Sundin's goals came in the second period, when the Leafs scored three successive goals to erase a 1-0 deficit.
Alexander Karpovtsev also scored for the Leafs, who beat the Flames for the eighth straight time.
Berezin's two goals extended his points streak to six games, during which he has seven goals and four assists.
Curtis Joseph made 27 saves in earning his 33rd victory of the season.
Hnat Domenichelli scored for the struggling Flames, who are winless in their last five (0-4-1).
Trailing 1-0, Sundin tied it 2:01 into the second period. Fredrik Modin feathered a pass to Sundin at the side of the net, where he tucked a backhander behind Ken Wregget.
Joseph kept Calgary from regaining a lead when he caught Andrei Nazarov's shot that was heading for a top corner of the net.
Toronto took a 2-1 lead late in the second period. With the teams playing 4-on-4, Karpovtsev's slap shot from the blue line deflected in off the stick of Flames defenseman Steve Smith.
Toronto increased its lead 96 seconds later when Karpovtsev found Sundin open at the side of the Flames' net with a perfect cross-ice pass.
Toronto's second and third goals came seconds after Flames penalties expired.
Despite the return of Smith (broken foot) and Jeff Shantz (sprained shoulder), Calgary's injury count remained at seven with Rene Corbet (leg) and Cale Hulse (ribs) the latest casualties.
Thursday April 1, 1999 Toronto at Edmonton
Left-winger Sergei Berezin had two of his three goals in the first period to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
Center Steve Sullivan and left-winger Steve Thomas also scored for the Leafs, who opened a 5-0 lead when Berezin scored Toronto's third power-play goal at 1:40 of the third period.
Former Leafs defenseman Jason Smith scored at 2:17 of the third period for the only goal for the Oilers, who remain in ninth place in the Western Conference, one point behind the Calgary Flames.
Berezin has 32 goals and 51 points in 69 games after notching his second hat trick of the season. He also scored three goals Feb. 10 in a 6-5 win against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Berezin scored from the face-off circle on opposite sides at 5:27 and 17:48 of the first. The first goal came on a slap shot on a power play and the second came after left-winger Rem Murray failed to check him.
Berezin's third goal was on another slap shot from the faceoff circle.
Sullivan made it 2-0 when left-winger Derek King made an excellent pass following a giveaway by Smith in the Oilers end.
Thomas scored his 27th goal on a slap shot from the face-off circle 24 seconds into the third.
King had three assists for Toronto.
Left-winger Ryan Smyth set up Smith's goal with a nifty pass in front as referee Paul Devorski signaled a delayed penalty against the Leafs.