GAME SUMMARIES
Updated: Friday January 1, 1999 1:14AM EST
Thursday December 31, 1998 Toronto at Detroit
Add the Toronto Maple Leafs to the growing number of teams that are dominating the Detroit Red Wings this season. Curtis Joseph made 38 saves and Mats Sundin had two assists as Toronto beat Detroit 4-2 Thursday night, extending the Red Wings' winless streak to seven games.
Toronto, which moved to the Eastern Conference this season, finished 3-0 against Detroit this year. It was the Maple Leafs' first season sweep of Detroit since they went 4-0 against the Red Wings in 1979-80.
By completing the three-game season sweep, Toronto has evened the all-time series with Detroit at 268-268-91.
"You wouldn't expect us to win all three before the season started," Sundin said. "This one tonight, Detroit was the better team, but CuJo won the game for us."
Joseph was just 6-14-5 in his career against the Red Wings before beating them three times this season. He was particularly outstanding in the second period, stopping several good chances for the Red Wings.
"CuJo was standing on his head, and we couldn't let him down," said forward Derek King, who scored Toronto's last goal.
Joseph is 7-0-0 this year when facing more than 30 shots in a game.
"He seems to be into it more when he gets point-blank shots and rebounds," King said.
Igor Korolev, Steve Thomas and Fredrik Modin scored the other goals for the Maple Leafs (21-13-2), who moved a point ahead of idle Buffalo atop the Northeast Division with their 12th win in 17 games.
"At the start we were just trying to put together a team that could play several types of games," Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn said. "Twenty-one wins is a credit to the guys in that room, but we still have a way to go before we can play those several types of games. A month from now we'll find out just what kind of team we have. We've got a rough stretch ahead."
Martin Lapointe and Darren McCarty scored for the Red Wings, who can't seem to put a rough stretch behind them. They finished 4-7-2 in December, and the seven-game winless streak (0-6-1) is Detroit's longest since a seven-game losing streak in January 1991.
"Our confidence isn't as strong as it needs to be," Detroit defenseman Larry Murphy said. "We're not handling adversity really well. When you're playing well and make a mistake you get right back up. Now we're not handling it well, and it just snowballs."
Chris Osgood made 23 saves for Detroit.
Korolev opened the scoring 4:35 into the first period when his intended centering pass from behind the goal deflected off Lapointe and into the net.
The Red Wings drew even 4:08 later when Sergei Fedorov's pass for Steve Yzerman instead caromed to a wide-open Lapointe, who easily flipped the puck past Joseph.
Detroit outshot Toronto 17-9 in the second period, yet the Maple Leafs scored the only goal. Just nine seconds into a double-minor against Detroit's Joe Kocur, Sundin made a pass to the front of the net that was deflected to Osgood's left and pushed in by Thomas at 16:04.
Modin put Toronto up 3-1 when he converted a pass from Sundin just 29 seconds into the third period. But McCarty got that one back by one-timing a pass from Fedorov past Joseph at 3:26.
Derek King gave Toronto some insurance by scoring his 14th goal with 3:55 remaining.
Defenseman Todd Gill, claimed off waivers Wednesday from St. Louis, made his Detroit debut and was on the ice for two Toronto goals.
"It's going to take a few games to adjust, but I think I'll enjoy it here," Gill said.
Wednesday December 30, 1998 Anaheim at Toronto
It wasn't the usual cast that supplied the firepower for the Maple Leafs.
Defenseman Jason Smith scored his second of the season, and Yannick Tremblay netted his first of the year in Toronto's 4-1 win over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Wednesday night.
"It was a great team effort," Smith said. "We didn't give them any turnovers and we forced them to the walls. Great players like that are going to get some chances. We just wanted to limit them."
Tie Domi, known more for his fighting, added his fourth of the season.
"That's some reward for the good work they've done," Leafs coach Pat Quinn said. "More often than not their contributions don't show up as points. Tonight, they got points."
Fredrik Modin also scored for Toronto, his ninth of the year. The Leafs outshot the Ducks, 39-31.
Domi opened the scoring 4:36 into the game, circling the Anaheim net and stuffing a low shot between Hebert's legs.
Toronto went ahead 2-0 on Modin's goal at 14:59 in the first period. Mats Sundin got an assist to extend his points streak to a team-high six games.
The Leafs ended a seven-game homestand with a 4-3 record. The loss ended Anaheim's three-game road unbeaten string.
Anaheim's Paul Kariya, who entered the game second in the NHL in goals, had an assist but went his sixth consecutive game without a goal. He has just one goal in his last 13 contests.
Tremblay scored the lone goal of the second period, taking a pass from Smith deep in the Anaheim zone and beating Hebert to the glove side at 16:25.
Smith gave Toronto a 4-0 cushion with his second goal of the season, at 4:55 of the third period, by re-directing a Domi pass.
Teemu Selanne spoiled Curtis Joseph's shutout bid at 6:50 of the third period.
"They play smart hockey," Selanne said. "They're not happy to dump the puck right away. They want to do something with it. That's why they're the highest scoring team in the league."
The Leafs lost center Alyn McCauley midway through the second period with a sprained left knee for at least three weeks.
"There was no pop or crack, but when it happened I knew something was wrong," McCauley said.
Saturday December 26, 1998 Montreal at Toronto
Stephane Quintal scored with 4:58 remaining as the Montreal Canadiens stopped the second-longest winless streak in team history with a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
Quintal and his teammates were winless in 11 (0-6-5) skating into the game against the Maple Leafs, and the score was tied at 1-1 with the third period quickly disappearing.
Then Quintal, who hadn't scored a goal all season, beat Curtis Joseph with a shot between the goalie's legs on a 3-on-1, saving coach Alain Vigneault and his players from a piece of one of the most dreaded records in the storied franchise's history.
After his goal, Quintal coasted all the way into his own zone with his hands raised to accept teammates' hugs.
The Canadiens fell one game short of tying the longest winless streak in franchise history, shared by the 1925-26 and 1935-36 teams.
Eric Weinrich also scored for the Canadiens (9-18-7). Steve Thomas scored for the Maple Leafs (19-13-2).
Earlier in the day, the Canadiens announced the hiring of Jacques Lemaire as general manager Rejean Houle's assistant.
It was the last game between the storied franchises in the old Maple Leaf Gardens, which will be vacated in February for the new Air Canada Centre. The Canadiens will play the first game there on Feb. 20.
Hall of Famers Maurice Richard, looking good after battling cancer last summer, and Ted Kennedy took part in a ceremonial faceoff, and they were barely off the ice before Thomas tapped Mats Sundin's pass behind Jeff Hackett at the 33-second mark on the game's first shot.
The next 10 shots on goal all were by the Canadiens.
Weinrich beat Joseph with a slap shot from the top of the left circle at 3:04.
Late in the first period, Thomas was cut by teammate Sergei Berezin's skate blade in a pileup at the Montreal crease. He required more than 20 stitches above the lip and above the right eye and did not return to the game.
The video replay officials got a workout disallowing two Montreal goals in the second period. In the ninth minute, they disallowed a goal by Mark Recchi, concluding he kicked the puck in. In the 15th minute, Benoit Brunet redirected in a pass but clearly had his right skate in the crease.
The Canadiens couldn't buy a goal as Joseph made one big save after another.
It was one of the better efforts this season by Montreal's offense, which is ranked 24th among the 27 teams. Only Washington, Tampa Bay, and San Jose have scored fewer goals.
Wednesday December 23, 1998 Dallas at Toronto
After beating up on Western Conference teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs really met their match in the Dallas Stars.
The Maple Leafs, who had only lost once to Western Conference opponents and had scored 19 goals in their previous three games, got a wakeup call Wednesday night with a 5-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.
The Stars are the NHL's top team with a 20-5-6 record.
Mike Modano, who hadn't scored a goal in his last seven games, made up for it with a hat trick as Dallas ended the Maple Leafs' three-game winning streak and extended the Stars' unbeaten streak to 10 games (7-0-3).
"I haven't had too many shots the last few games, so it was nice to get rewarded," said Modano, who had four shots last night and leads the Stars in assists (21), points (32) and is tied with Jere Lehtinen in goals (11).
Lehtinen had three points Wednesday night, including a goal, while Brett Hull scored the other goal and added an assist for Dallas.
Defenseman Derian Hatcher added two assists.
Sergei Berezin scored for the Maple Leafs, who lead the NHL with 106 goals.
The Stars' record against the East improved to 7-1-2, while the Maple Leafs dropped to 12-2-1 against the West. They also lost in Vancouver on Oct. 17.
"We weren't up to the task," said Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn. "When you play a real good defensive team like that, you have to play well without the puck and we didn't do that."
The Maple Leafs failed to win a fourth straight game for the fifth time this season.
"We've been talking about playing better defensively, especially when we run into really good teams. We learned a lesson today," said Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin.
Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph gave up four goals on the first seven shots, the result of several 2-on-1 breaks.
"I didn't think we got beaten as badly as the score showed," said Joseph, who made 19 saves. "It was a tough night ... we've had the breaks going for us lately. Tonight it was the other way."
Stars goalie Ed Belfour made 21 saves for his 16th win of the season.
"I thought our goalie was the best player on the ice early on. Eddie saved our bacon," said Stars coach Ken Hitchcock.
The Stars scored three times in the first period. Modano sneaked one through Joseph's pads four minutes into the game then Hull put the Stars up by two midway through the period when he tipped Darryl Sydor's point shot for a power-play goal.
"We knew how good Toronto has been playing lately," Hull said. "They are a fast and talented team and we knew we had to play well in the neutral zone."
The Maple Leafs cut the lead to one goal when Berezin one-timed Mats Sundin's pass just after their power play ended, but Dallas responded when Modano scored his second of the period on the Maple Leafs' next man advantage.
It didn't get any better in the second when Lehtinen tipped a shot from Hatcher in mid-air at 5:41 to give the Stars a 4-1 lead. Modano completed the hat trick with eight minutes left in the game on a wrist shot.
"When they got the shorthanded goal, it really put us down," Sundin said. "We opened up and they scored a couple more."
Monday December 21, 1998 Pittsburgh at Toronto
Mats Sundin scored two goals and Alyn McCauley had a goal and two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-1 Monday night.
The Maple Leafs, who lead the NHL with 105 goals, have scored 14 in the last two games with McCauley collecting seven points during that span.
Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph made 30 saves as the Maple Leafs were outshot 31-27.
Jason Smith, Derek King, Sergei Berezin and Mike Johnson also scored for the Maple Leafs, who have won 10 of their last 11 home games. Jan Hrdina scored for Pittsburgh.
Penguins goaltender Tom Barrasso did not come out of the dressing room to start the second period and was replaced by Peter Skudra, who let in four goals on the first nine shots he faced.
Pittsburgh went ahead at 6:04 of the first period when Hrdina scored on his own rebound after Joseph made a diving stick save on his first shot.
But after that it was all Toronto, as the Maple Leafs came back with seven straight goals, including four in the second period.
Toronto scored two goals 1:05 apart midway through the first to claim the lead. McCauley scored his second in as many games on a quick shot that slipped through Barrasso's pads while Sundin's goal came on a wicked backhander from in close.
Smith scored his first of the season on a hard shot near the point that went straight through Skudra's legs. King's and Berezin's goals both came on the power play 1:36 apart.
The Penguins outshot the Maple Leafs in all three periods.
Saturday December 19, 1998 Ny Rangers at Toronto
With his New York Rangers losing, Wayne Gretzky wasn't pleased with his final appearance at Maple Leaf Gardens. Toronto Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn wasn't pleased, either, even though his team won. "I'm certainly happy for the win but I'm not too happy (about) the way it ended," said Quinn, whose Maple Leafs gave up three goals late in the game before winning 7-4.
"How can you not be comfortable with a 5-1 lead? But I wasn't."
Gretzky, meanwhile, played his last game at the venerable hockey building. The Maple Leafs will play their final game at the Gardens on Feb. 13 before opening up their new Air Canada Centre on Feb. 20.
"Obviously, we were extremely disappointed with the way we started the game," said Gretzky, whose Rangers fell behind 4-0 in the first period. "This was a huge loss for us.
"We wanted to come out and have a good final game here and they came out hard and beat us."
Derek King had two goals for the Maple Leafs, while Alyn McCauley had a career-high four-point night, including one goal. Steve Thomas, Darby Hendrickson, Mike Johnson and Tie Domi had the other goals.
Adam Graves, Petr Nedved, Niklas Sundstrom and Mike Knuble scored for the Rangers, who lost to Toronto for the first time in 11 games. The Rangers had a 9-0-1 streak against the Maple Leafs, last losing on Jan. 30, 1993.
Gretzky had two power-play assists to give him 77 points in 30 games at the Gardens.
The Maple Leafs had a 4-0 lead 14:10 into the game. King picked up a loose puck and scored on the first shot of the night at 1:57. McCauley was credited with his sixth when a point shot went off Ulf Samuelsson's stick on a power play. King's second came off a rebound of a shot by McCauley and Domi fired a wrist shot past Mike Richter.
Just over two minutes later, Gretzky set up behind goalie Glenn Healy on a Rangers power play, took his time and passed out to Adam Graves, who scored from in front.
Even though the King-McCauley-Mike Johnson line combined for eight points, Quinn wasn't happy with them, either.
"They put the puck in the net, but I don't think they played very well," Quinn said. "They were chasing a lot, but they were the only line that went to the net."
King felt otherwise.
"I look at two points as a good win," King said. "It doesn't matter the way you do it. It's great that Wayne Gretzky comes in for the fans, but Alyn McCauley took center stage with four points."
"The puck hadn't been going in for us in a while," said McCauley. "It was nice to get a game like this and get our confidence level back to where it was before."
Healy made his second start of the season since being recalled from the Chicago Wolves of the International Hockey League after Felix Potvin left the team. The former Ranger made 22 saves for his second win.
"Wayne Gretzky alone can create six or seven chances, but tonight was our night," Healy said. "We did what we had to do to win."
Richter was pulled midway through the third for Dan Cloutier after Hendrickson made it 7-1.
Wednesday December 16, 1998 Phoenix at Toronto
Igor Korolev scored twice during a four-goal outburst in the second period as the Toronto Maple Leafs handed the Phoenix Coyotes only their fourth loss of the season, 5-2 Wednesday night.
Mats Sundin, Darby Hendrickson and Fredrik Modin also scored for the Leafs, who are 12-1-1 against Western Conference clubs this season.
Toronto became the first team this season to score five goals against Phoenix, which has the NHL's top defense.
Jeremy Roenick and Oleg Tverdovsky scored for the Coyotes (17-4-4), who played with injured star Keith Tkachuk.
Toronto trailed 2-0 after one period, but scored four goals in the first four minutes of the second period while outshooting Phoenix 12-3.
The Leafs made it 2-1 less than a minute into the period when Sylvain Cote hit a streaking Korolev with a perfect pass behind the Coyotes' defense on a power play. Korolev gave goalie Nikolai Khabibulin a shoulder fake before beating him to the top right corner.
Just 16 seconds later, Modin tied it with a wrist shot that went through Khabibulin's pads.
Less than three minutes later, Korolev banged home a loose puck in the crease to give Toronto its first lead. Phoenix coach Jim Schoenfeld then called a timeout to halt the Leafs' momentum, but it didn't work.
Hendrickson capped the rally when he put in his own rebound on a backhander at 4:43. Khabibulin was then replaced by Jimmy Waite after giving up four goals on 18 shots.
Curtis Joseph made 31 saves for Toronto, including consecutive stops on Dallas Drake, Tverdovsky and Shane Doan during a Phoenix power play in the second period.
Sundin completed the scoring midway through the third, taking a pass across the slot from Steve Thomas and sliding a shot to the left of Waite.
Saturday December 12, 1998 Philadelphia at Toronto
John LeClair scored his 20th goal of the season and John Vanbiesbrouck made 23 saves as the Philadelphia Flyers blanked Toronto 3-0 Saturday night, ending the Maple Leafs' seven-game home winning streak.
Valeri Zelepukin and Eric Lindros also scored for Philadelphia (13-9-5). Lindros, with his fifth goal in his last three games, leads the NHL in scoring with 39 points. LeClair, who tied Chicago's Tony Amonte for the league lead in goals, also had an assist for 36 points.
Although the Flyers came into the game with the sixth-best goals-against average (2.23) in the league, Vanbiesbrouck had the second-worst save percentage (.884) behind Tampa Bay's Bill Ranford (.866) among starting goalies.
The Leafs (16-11-2) lost their spot atop the Northeast Division to Buffalo, with its 4-1 victory over Boston. The Sabres now have 35 points from 25 games to Toronto's 34 in 29 games.
The Leafs continue to struggle with opponents from their conference. They're 5-10-1 against the Eastern Conference, but 11-1-1 against the West.
The Lindros-LeClair-Keith Jones line, which had been nicknamed the Orange Crush, may fizzle now that general manager Bobby Clarke has reacquired former Flyer Mikael Renberg.
The former Legion of Doom linemate was traded along with Daymond Langkow by the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Flyers for Chris Gratton (one goal) and Mike Sillinger (no goals) on Saturday.
Curtis Joseph, who made 24 saves, didn't look sharp in the first period, letting in two hard slapshots to his glove side by Zelepukin and Lindros. LeClair put the Flyers ahead by three early in the third when he chipped in a loose puck from in front of Joseph.
The Leafs, who had nine power-play goals in the previous eight games, were held scoreless on seven opportunities.
Friday December 11, 1998 Toronto at Chicago
Glenn Healy, back in the NHL after his recall this week from the minors, made 28 saves to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Healy, who had been recalled from the Chicago Wolves of the IHL, was called up only because backup goaltender Felix Potvin had walked out on the team because they had been having trouble trading him.
Todd Warriner, Alyn McCauley and Mats Sundin scored as the Maple Leafs extended their unbeaten streak at the United Center to seven games (6-0-1). Doug Gilmour and Daniel Cleary scored for Chicago.
The Maple Leafs, who remained in first place in the NHL's Northeast Division, haven't lost in Chicago since April 11, 1996. Overall, Toronto has won four of its last five games and seven of its last nine.
The Blackhawks outshot the Maple Leafs 30-19.
Warriner opened the scoring at 11:42. He beat Chicago goaltender Jocelyn Thibault from 15 feet when the puck dribbled across the slot after a faceoff in the Blackhawks' zone.
Gilmour tied it 1-1 during a power play at 14:00 when he deflected Dave Manson's shot from the top of the slot past Healy. However, McCauley restored the Maple Leafs' lead with 1:52 left in the period by converting a 2-on-1 with Dimitri Yushkevich.
Sundin extended Toronto's advantage to 3-1 at 1:27 of the second on a low slap shot from just inside the Chicago blue line that slipped between Thibault's legs. Cleary cut it to 3-2 at 11:12 by banging in a rebound from a scramble to the right of Healy.
Monday December 7, 1998 Toronto at NY Rangers
It looked like the New York Rangers were reverting to early-season form when they trailed the Toronto Maple Leafs after only 25 seconds.
But it really was the updated version of the Rangers, a suddenly confident team that extended its unbeaten streak to six games with a 6-2 victory over the Maple Leafs on Monday night.
The Rangers quickly recovered and scored four straight goals as they continued their turnaround from an 0-4 start and went over the .500 mark for the first time this season at 10-9-7.
"A lot of good things came out of those four (losses)," Wayne Gretzky said. "We played really hard and we were committed as a team to play together. From that point on, we just continued to work hard at practice."
Mike Richter also extended his personal unbeaten streak to 5-0-1 while making 24 saves against one of the NHL's better teams.
"We're playing the way we should," Richter said. "It's confidence building, as an individual and as a team."
Mike Knuble, Todd Harvey, Niklas Sundstrom, Brian Leetch, Petr Nedved and John MacLean scored for New York, which extended its unbeaten streak against the Maple Leafs to 10 games (9-0-1). Toronto hasn't beaten New York since Jan. 3, 1993, and hasn't won in Madison Square Garden since Dec. 19, 1990, a stretch of seven games (0-6-1).
"It felt good to get back to .500 the other night (with a 2-1 victory at Ottawa)," Leetch said. "Now to beat a Toronto team that has been playing well this year is important for us."
Frederik Modin and Sergei Berezin scored for the Maple Leafs, who had won three straight and six of their previous seven and were tied for the second-best record in the league.
"We weren't even close," Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn said. "We had a good first two shifts, but it went downhill all the way. We were out of position, chasing the puck. It was the worst game by far that we've had."
Part of the reason was the Rangers' aggressiveness.
"I thought the Rangers played really solid defensively," Toronto forward Mats Sundin said. "They didn't give us a lot of chances."
The Maple Leafs continued their uneven play against conference rivals, dropping to 5-9-1 against teams in the East. They are 10-1-1 against teams in the West.
The Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead 25 seconds into the game when Modin scored on a rebound of a shot by Sundin. Knuble tied it for the Rangers with a 45-footer from the right side at 9:22. Harvey gave New York a 2-1 lead when he scored from in front with nine seconds left in the first period after the Maple Leafs failed to clear the puck.
Sundstrom scored from outside the crease 53 seconds into the second period, and Leetch added another at 15:27 from close range for a 4-1 New York lead. The Maple Leafs cut New York's lead to two goals when Berezin scored from the left circle at 18:09.
Nedved and MacLean completed the rout with third-period goals.
Saturday December 5, 1998 Toronto at Montreal
Tomas Kaberle's blast from the high slot 34 seconds into overtime lifted the Toronto Maple Leafs to a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Tie Domi had tied it with 2:20 left in regulation. Rookie defenseman Brett Clark lost the puck at the Montreal blue line, allowing Darby Hendrickson to sweep in on the Montreal goal, and Domi slid a backhand shot past Jeff Hackett.
Martin Rucinsky had given Montreal a 3-2 lead 7:22 into the third period when his soft wrist shot from the left side got past Curtis Joseph, who was neatly screened by Benoit Brunet.
Shayne Corson and Patrick Poulin also scored for Montreal, which was coming off a 1-1 tie in New Jersey on Friday night.
Defensemen Daniil Markov and Dimitri Yushkevich scored in the second period for the Maple Leafs, who won their third in a row.
The first of five meetings between the Maple Leafs and Canadiens, traditional rivals reunited in the Northeast Division this season, drew a sellout crowd of 21,273 including many wearing Maple Leafs jerseys.
Montreal outshot Toronto 28-26.
Markov opened the scoring 48 seconds into the second when his long shot got through Hackett's pads and went in off defenseman Vladimir Malakhov's skate.
Montreal was on a two-man advantage when Corson slid one under Joseph at 3:29. The Maple Leafs regained the lead when Yushkevich's long shot dribbled through Hackett's pads on a power play at 6:50.
The Canadiens tied it on Poulin's shorthanded goal. Poulin followed when he scored on his own rebound at 11:20.
Goaltender Felix Potvin, who said he has left the Maple Leafs while awaiting a trade, was not in their lineup. Francis Larivee was called up from the St. John's AHL farm team to back up Joseph.
Wednesday December 2, 1998 Los Angeles at Toronto
For a guy with only one good foot, Sergei Berezin didn't look too bad on Wednesday night.
The right wing scored two power-play goals to give the Maple Leafs a 3-1 victory over the struggling Los Angeles Kings -- Toronto's seventh straight win at home.
"It's nice to win and score two goals," said Berezin, who hadn't scored in his last 12 games.
Berezin, who had X-rays on Monday that proved negative, has been hindered by a bruised foot which has limited his ability to find the open shot. He plans to have an MRI performed Thursday on a left instep which he injured in the Maple Leafs' 10-4 win at Chicago on Nov. 12.
"The foot is bothering me," Berezin said. "If you're late for one second in this league, you're in trouble."
"It was bothering him a lot," said Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn. "(But) he found some room out there. ... He's maybe getting by that pain threshold."
Berezin scored the winner with 9:52 left in the game on a deflection off a point shot by Sylvain Cote. Dimitri Yushkevich scored another power-play goal 2:20 later that was deflected off a Kings' player to give the Maple Leafs three goals with the man advantage (on five chances) for the first time this season.
"It was nice to see our power play win it for us," said captain Mats Sundin, who had three assists.
It was another frustrating night for Kings coach Larry Robinson, whose team has lost nine of its last 10 games and has only won twice in the past 15.
"We shoot the puck and it goes off a stick into the corner," he said. "They shoot the puck but it hits a stick and goes into the net."
Curtis Joseph was solid once again in the Maple Leafs' net, making 27 saves. Vladimir Tsyplakov was the only King to beat him, scoring shorthanded midway through the third with a blistering wrist shot to the right top corner.
"We've got something going here," Joseph said. "We're doing a lot of things right and hopefully we'll keep it going."