GAME SUMMARIES
Updated: Thursday December 23, 1999 7:17PM EST
Tuesday December 21, 1999 Toronto at Tampa
Cory Cross dreamt about scoring a goal like this.
Cross scored the eventual game-winning goal against his former team with a little more than seven minutes left in the third period as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 Tuesday night.
"I thought about it today, but I didn't think it would happen," Cross said. "It would be very nice to get the winner, but the way I play, there's not much chance of that happening. I was lucky enough it did."
In his first game against the Lightning, Cross snapped a 2-2 tie when his slap shot from the left point deflected off Tampa Bay goalie Dan Cloutier's glove with 7:16 left.
"That goal shouldn't go in. It's a 2-2 game, it's an awful goal that wins the game for them," Tampa Bay coach Steve Ludzik said.
"It was a good shot, but it should have been a routine save," Cloutier said.
Cross' second goal of the season snapped a 22-game goal-scoring drought.
"I'm sure he ranked that goal up there pretty good," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "It's nice for him, the style of game he plays, just to get a goal. To have it happen against the team you played for, it's probably special and turns out to be a winner too."
The Maple Leafs acquired Cross and a 2001 seventh-round draft pick from Tampa Bay for Fredrik Modin last October.
Garry Valk added an insurance goal with three minutes left as Toronto won its fourth straight game. The Maple Leafs have also won eight straight against the Lightning, who have dropped three consecutive games.
Sergei Berezin had a goal and two assists for Toronto.
Tampa Bay wing Stephane Richer returned after missing 15 games with a strained oblique muscle and scored his 399th career goal in the second period.
The Lightning had the better scoring chances through two periods, but the play of Toronto backup goalie Glenn Healy kept the game tied 2-2 after 40 minutes.
"Glenn kept it close, especially in that second period," Quinn said. "In that second period, we were just awful giving up outnumbered attacks. He made a couple brilliant saves. It was quite a game for him."
Healy robbed Mike Sillinger with a glove save on a second-period breakaway, and made a diving stop on Richer during a two-on-one break.
Toronto's Mike Johnson scored in the first period on the power play. It was Johnson's seventh goal in eight games against Tampa Bay.
Darcy Tucker got the equalizer for Tampa Bay early in the second period. After Sergei Berezin put the Maple Leafs ahead 2-1, Richer tied it with just under four minutes left in the second period.
Monday December 20, 1999 Toronto at Florida
Growing up in Russia, Nik Antropov didn't follow the NHL career of countryman Pavel Bure.
On Monday night, Antropov upstaged him.
Antropov, 19, notched his first career hat trick as the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied to a 6-4 victory over the Florida Panthers.
The Maple Leafs, who trailed 4-2, scored four unanswered goals in the third period -- the final two by Antropov.
Antropov's second of the night, and third of the year, with 10:03 left, put Toronto ahead 5-4. It was the Maple Leafs' third goal in just under five minutes.
Antropov, Toronto's first selection in the 1998 NHL draft, sent a shot from the right circle past Florida's Mikhail Shtalenkov. It came after Igor Korolev's power-play goal and a short-handed score by Dimitri Yushkevich that tied the game.
The third goal by Antropov came with 6:23 left after he one-timed a shot on a two-on-one break with Dmitri Khristich. Florida's Cam Stewart had turned the puck over to Khristich on a drop pass.
"My first hat trick in the NHL," Antropov said. "Unbelievable. I'm so happy."
The loss ended Florida's four-game winning streak and was only the Panthers' third defeat at home. Toronto won its third straight.
"He had one of those nights," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said of the rookie center who debuted against the Panthers on Oct. 13 in Toronto. "It might be a coming out for him -- I hope it is."
The momentum shifted back and forth all game.
"It didn't look good when we were down 4-2, but we kept plugging," said Curtis Joseph, who had 36 saves. "But we kept plugging and Nikki had a big game -- he buried three. You need somebody to get hot and Nikki was hot tonight."
Last year, Antropov was skating for Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Hockey League. He had five goals and nine assists in 30 games. Coming into the NHL, he was not viewed as a complete player, but as a raw talent.
"People questioned his skating," said Toronto's Mats Sundin, who had a goal Monday. "But I think he's going to be a hell of a player."
Antropov scored his three goals against a fellow countryman, Bure.
"Yesterday, I told him three goals," Antropov joked.
Bure, the NHL's player of the week, set a Panthers record by scoring a goal in his fifth straight game. Bure, who has 12 goals in seven games, also had two assists.
Ray Whitney scored a pair of goals for Florida.
"It was a game that was there for us," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "We gave the game to them."
The Panthers were down 2-0 after one period, but scored twice in the second and added two goals early in the third. Bure had his hand in two of them.
Florida lost for the first time this season when Bure scored a goal (13-1-1).
The Maple Leafs are now 6-1-2 in their last nine against the Panthers. Joseph improved to 8-1-1 lifetime against Florida.
Just 1:28 into the game, the Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead on Antropov's first score of the game.
His only other goal was Nov. 15 against San Jose.
"You can't say enough about him," said Tie Domi, who assisted on Antropov's opening goal. "You hate to compare him, but I see a lot of Alexei Yashin in him, except he's more feisty."
Sunday December 18, 1999 Montreal at Toronto
With time running out, Sergei Berezin and the Toronto Maple Leafs finally got the best of the injury-plagued Montreal Canadiens.
Berezin scored on a snap shot from the slot with 3:42 remaining as Toronto beat Montreal 2-1 Saturday night.
Berezin, who has 12 goals this season, took a backhand pass from Mike Johnson and beat goalie Jeff Hackett between the legs.
"Everybody right now is angry because we played a great game," Montreal defenseman Patrice Brisebois said. "We gave it our best."
Curtis Joseph made 21 saves for the Maple Leafs, including two great stops with Montreal on a power play in the final 20 seconds.
"It was a tight game and it possibly could have gone either way," Toronto captain Mats Sundin said. "Six-on-four they're probably going to get some chances. CuJo made some huge saves."
Jim Cummins gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead midway through the second period, and Dimitri Yushkevich tied it on a power play with 3:42 left in the period.
Toronto, which has won its last three games against Montreal, improved its Eastern Conference-leading points total to 44. The Maple Leafs are 19-11-4.
The Canadiens dropped to 11-20-2.
"Definitely, they played a very hard forechecking game," Yushkevich said. "For the players they were missing, they played a very good game. It was a tough game for us."
Wednesday December 15, 1999 Ny Islanders at Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs had some fun at the expense of former teammate Felix Potvin.
Jonas Hoglund had two goals and an assist as the Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 5-1 on Wednesday night.
"They're one of the best teams in the league and you can't give them extra chances like that," said Potvin, whose team is 0-7-1 in its last eight games.
"It's really frustrating because we haven't won in a while. We've got a young team. Sometimes it hurts us more than it should, but you learn from that."
Potvin gave up all five goals and finished with 22 saves in his second start against his former team since being traded to the Islanders last season.
Tie Domi, Steve Thomas and Bryan Berard also scored for Toronto, which improved its home record to an NHL-best 15-4-2-0 and pulled three points ahead of second-place Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference.
Glenn Healy, making his seventh start of the season in place of Curtis Joseph, made 23 saves. Healy allowed only Claude Lapointe's goal with 4:32 left.
"We didn't play a great game, but Healy made the saves when he needed to," said Hoglund, who leads the Leafs with 17 goals.
Hoglund scored his first goal 4:05 into the game off a rebound when he was left alone in front of the net.
Domi made it 2-0 midway through the second when he took a pass from Nik Antropov and fired a shot from the slot past Potvin.
Thomas scored the first of Toronto's two power-play goals when he stripped Zdeno Chara of the puck deep in New York's end and put a nice fake on Potvin. The Leafs continued the onslaught when Hoglund converted a perfect pass from Mats Sundin.
"We had a lot of turnovers and we gave up the puck a lot. We left (Potvin) hanging by himself in the net," said Islanders captain Kenny Jonsson, another former Toronto player. "That kind of thing happens with a young team."
Mariusz Czerkawski, New York's leading scorer, left the game because of a strained oblique muscle.
Monday December 13, 1999 Ottawa at
Toronto
The battered and bruised Ottawa Senators were the ones who put the hurt on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Senators, despite the absence of four injured defensemen, stymied the Maple Leafs with their neutral-zone trap and skated away with a 3-1 victory Monday night.
The victory kept Ottawa within striking distance of Toronto, the Northeast Division-leaders. Ottawa had won only two of 11 games.
"It was kind of a painful game to watch," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "And disappointing because we're not going to find Ottawa (short-handed) like that in our next two games and in the playoffs."
Radek Bonk, Shawn McEachern and Marian Hossa scored for the Senators, who moved within five points of Toronto.
"It was a real gut check for our team, the way things have gone lately, to come in and play a tough opponent that is leading our division," Ottawa goalie Ron Tugnutt said. "We haven't been scoring, so we said we had to prevent them from scoring."
Jonas Hoglund scored for the Maple Leafs, who lost for only the fourth time in 20 home games.
"We came off an emotional home-and-home series with Philadelphia and we came out flat," Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph said. "Real good teams should bounce back after an emotional charge like that."
Ottawa outshot Toronto 28-18, tying the Maple Leafs' season low.
"I had prepared myself thinking I was going to get a lot of work but this team never ceases to amaze me at times," Tugnutt said. "When we put our mind to it, defensively, we're as good as anybody in this league."
After Hoglund and Bonk exchanged second-period goals, McEachern took an Andreas Dackell pass and slapped in the winner from the faceoff circle at 1:17 of the third period.
"Dacks made a nice pass out front and I just tried to one-time it on net," McEachern said. "One of their guys got a piece of it, and that's what fooled Joseph."
Five minutes later, Toronto's Garry Valk had Tugnutt beaten, but his sliding shot was stopped by a post.
"I thought I had enough on it to get it into the net," Valk said. "Close, but no cigar."
Hossa's goal at 16:26 was the finishing touch.
The Senators were without defensemen Sami Salo (broken wrist), Jason York (groin strain), Chris Phillips (ankle) and Igor Kravchuk (sprained knee). Forward Kevin Dineen also missed the game with an injured groin.
David Van Drunen, who was recalled from Grand Rapids of the IHL, played his first NHL game when Kravchuk was ruled out. Van Drunen began his season with the ECHL's Mobile Mysticks.
"We're down to our 10th or 11th defenseman on the depth chart," Tugnutt said. "It's great to see these guys get a chance to play in the NHL and play as well as they can. Our defense corps did an outstanding job in blocking shots, keeping shots to the perimeter and clearing rebounds."
It was the first game of a four-game road trip.
"We saw an opportunity to win," Tugnutt said. "That brought our team back to the way we played early in the year, where as soon as we got the lead we kept attacking. In the last couple of weeks, we've kind of sat back and hoped to win. This time we went out and took charge and made sure we won."
Saturday December 11, 1999 Philadelphia at Toronto
Roger Neilson drew a rousing response from the Toronto fans -- and the wrath of Pat Quinn.
Garry Valk scored two goals and the Toronto Maple Leafs moved into first place in the Eastern Conference with a 6-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.
The game featured a 12-player brawl in the second period that led to three game misconducts and 96 minutes in penalties. The fights overshadowed a tribute to Nielson, the Flyers coach who was coaching his first game since announcing he has bone cancer.
"Are we playing hockey or playing that `70's scrum (stuff) that we've already been through?" said Quinn, the Maple Leafs coach and GM. "I thought that was a bygone era. When their five guys start throwing punches at your five guys, something's wrong. (Neilson) thinks he's still coaching in the '70s."
Neilson defended himself, denying any intent on his part to instigate the fights with his team trailing 5-2.
"We're on the road, so we put out our two tough guys," Neilson said. "Pat was yelling at our bench complaining, but he had the last change. He didn't answer the challenge. He didn't have enough tough guys on the ice."
Flyers captain Eric Lindros tried to spark his team by getting into a fight with Toronto defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev.
The main event broke out nine seconds later as all the players on the ice, including goalies Curtis Joseph and Brian Boucher, got into it. Sandy McCarthy pummeled Dmitri Khristich, and Craig Berube fought with another Maple Leafs player.
Toronto enforcer Tie Domi, who had earlier rebuffed challenges from McCarthy and Berube, got involved as the third man in a scuffle between teammate Tomas Kaberle and Philadelphia's Adam Burt.
"Domi threw four punches at Burt, who couldn't defend himself," Neilson said. "You can't sucker somebody like that. I was really surprised at Tie. I think he lost a lot of respect from the guys on my team, and from myself."
Game misconducts were assessed to McCarthy, Philadelphia defenseman Luke Richardson and Domi.
In the penalty box, Domi shaped his hands into six-shooters, firing a few rounds and sticking them in a virtual holster.
"I took two of 'em down," Domi said. "I was pretty pumped. Three of them got misconducts and me. I'll take that."
Valk's two goals sandwiched another by Sergei Berezin in a 1:43 span early in the second period to break a 2-2 tie.
Philadelphia goalie John Vanbiesbrouck stopped just 13 of 18 shots and was replaced by Boucher at 5:44 of the second period.
Steve Thomas, Mike Johnson and Jonas Hoglund also scored for Toronto, while Daymond Langkow, Keith Jones, Mark Recchi and Lindros scored for Philadelphia.
The Flyers took 18 shots in the third period and scored three times in five power-play opportunities.
The win improved the Leafs record to 17-10-4-2 for 40 points, one more than Philadelphia 17-9-4-1.
"We had a good, solid game," Quinn said. "It was just reward. We played well and deserved to win."
The Flyers beat the Maple Leafs 4-2 in Philadelphia on Thursday night to extend their undefeated streak to seven.
At one of the early stoppages in play, the in-house camera zoomed in on Neilson, who began his coaching career with the Maple Leafs. A message was flashed on the huge video screen above center ice: "Roger ... This cheer's for you from all your fans in Toronto."
Neilson, who begins chemotherapy Monday, looked up at the screen and his face flushed and tears welled in his eyes as the 19,000 hockey fans rose to applaud. Players on both teams gathered at their benches, slapping their sticks against the boards in honor of the 65-year-old coach.
"I saw my mug up there so I guessed what was happening," Neilson said. "That was kind of an emotional moment for me. That's one of the nicest things that has ever happened to me in hockey."
Thursday December 9, 1999 Toronto at Philadelphia
With Eric Lindros at his dominating best, the Philadelphia Flyers muscled their way to the top of the Eastern Conference.
The Philadelphia captain scored three goals as the Flyers beat Toronto 4-2 Thursday night to move a point ahead of the Maple Leafs in the conference standings.
"Eric was the dominating force out there," Philadelphia coach Roger Neilson said. "He was hitting, scoring a power-play goal, killing penalties, taking faceoffs. He did it all tonight. So when your captain does that, it's great for the team."
"I don't know about dominance, but he had a heck of a game," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "He's a big strong guy and he's got skill on top of it."
John Vanbiesbrouck made 27 saves, and John LeClair added a goal for the Flyers. Philadelphia has won four straight, and is 6-0-1 in its last seven games.
"It was a good win for us, no question about that," LeClair said. "As a team we're a little disappointed the way we played that third period. We tended to play a little conservative. We were hanging back a little bit and they have some good skaters who took advantage of that."
Mats Sundin and Tie Domi scored goals early in the third period for the Maple Leafs, who entered the game 4-0-1 in their last five games. Toronto is 0-5-2 in its last seven road games.
"I like the effort we put forth," Toronto's Garry Valk said. "When you're playing a team like Philly you're not going to outmuscle them, you're not going to outbang them, so you've got to outsmart them."
Lindros scored twice in the first period to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. The first came when he poked in a rebound during a scramble in front of the net at 13:35.
Then at 17:37, Lindros, standing to the left of the crease on a power play, redirected an attempt by Mark Recchi past goalie Glenn Healy.
LeClair made it 3-0 at 3:38 of the second period and narrowly missed another goal when he hit the post.
LeClair scored when he swept the puck off the left boards in Philadelphia's defensive zone, skated to the top of the left circle and ripped a slap shot that deflected off Toronto's Steve Thomas past Healy.
Sundin, who leads the Maple Leafs with 25 points and 14 goals, scored unassisted at 1:52 of the third period, slipping a wrist shot between Vanbiesbrouck's legs from left of the net.
Sundin then fed Domi, who scored his first goal of the season by flipping the puck into the net at 6:13.
But Lindros capped off the 11th regular-season hat trick of his career with 1:06 left, firing a slap shot from top of the left circle high over Healy.
Recchi, had two assists to extend his point-scoring streak to eight games. He has four goals and nine assists during that span.
Toronto was 0-for-4 on the power play to run their string of futility to 0-for-19, including 11 seconds of a two-man advantage in the first period.
The teams meet again in Saturday in Toronto.
Monday December 6, 1999 Buffalo at Toronto
After a long career, Steve Thomas is finally in the record book.
And now he has to prove it too.
"You have 10 overtime goals now?" Thomas was asked after beating goalie Dwayne Roloson from the slot 1:05 into overtime to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Thomas was quick to reply.
"Yeah, check the press notes they give you before games," he said. "I was tied with Mario Lemieux. I'm finally in the record books after 17 years in the league."
Thomas, who was called for boarding with 1:29 left in regulation, joked that he might also be in the record books for taking foolish penalties.
But goalie Curtis Joseph stood firm and set the stage for Thomas' 10th career regular-season overtime winner.
Thomas intercepted a behind-the-net clearing pass by Michael Peca, circled the net and beat Roloson with a low shot between the legs for his fourth goal of the season.
"I didn't get a good piece of it," Peca said. "That's a sad result. It's very frustrating, especially when we did play hard enough to win."
Garry Valk and Tomas Kaberle also scored for Toronto, which extended its unbeaten streak to five games and remained atop the Northeast Division standings.
Miroslav Satan and Dixon Ward scored for Buffalo, which is winless in four games. The loss was the first in seven overtime games this season (3-1-3).
The Sabres were 0-for-7 on the power play while Toronto went 0-for-5.
Buffalo opened the scoring on the first shift of the game, taking advantage of some sloppy defense when Michal Grosek moved a loose puck to Satan, who scored his team-leading 12th goal of the season 42 seconds into the game.
Ward made it 2-0 at 4:10 when Toronto defenseman Cory Cross lost control of the puck while backpedaling deep in his own zone. Ward snapped a wrist shot over Joseph's glove hand.
"Our defense was very slow in moving the puck," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "They seem to be overhandling it."
Toronto rallied with a pair of second-period goals.
Valk took a clearing attempt by defenseman Jay McKee and rifled a shot past Roloson at 3:13.
Kaberle tied the game with his fifth goal when his high wrist shot from the point slipped through a screen of players past Roloson at 11:51.
"It's a good feeling to be able to come back from two goals and go on to win," Toronto winger Kris King said. "Buffalo came out skating, won the battles in the corners and took control. But we were able to regroup and give it back to them."
Injured Toronto center Yanic Perreault addressed the media during the first intermission, saying he was disappointed to be out of action six to eight weeks after getting slashed by Pittsburgh goalie Tom Barrasso on Saturday night and having his left forearm broken. Barrasso was suspended by the NHL on Monday for four games.
Perreault, who figured he will miss 20 to 25 games, lamented about the lack of respect among players and suggested Barrasso should be subject to a suspension half the length of time he's out, but acknowledged that's unlikely to happen.
Saturday December 4, 1999 Pittsburgh at Toronto
Toronto's latest victory was a costly one.
Mats Sundin scored two goals, including the winner 27 seconds into overtime, and also had an assist to lead the Maple Leafs to a 3-2 victory Saturday night over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
But Yanic Perreault, tied with Sundin for the team lead in points, had his left forearm broken in the second period.
It was not immediately known how long Perreault, slashed by Penguins goalie Tom Barrasso on the play, would be sidelined.
Referee Richard Trottier did not call a penalty on the play, and Toronto coach Pat Quinn expressed his displeasure.
"There's enough injuries in the game without that kind of stuff," Quinn said. "(The doctors) were scared it was both bones. They're going to operate on it and put a plate on it.
"It was scary. On the replay, you can see it buckle."
Perreault filled in admirably on the top line when Sundin was injured earlier in the season, and had 23 points in 28 games.
"He was off to one of the best starts of his career," Quinn said. "We'll probably put (Dmitri) Khristich in the middle like we did for the rest of the game."
Jonas Hoglund also scored for the Maple Leafs and Curtis Joseph made 27 saves.
Twelve of Toronto's wins have come at home, the most in the NHL.
"I think we've established a good home game," Sundin said. "It was nice (to get the goal). It's nice to see at home we're finding ways to win."
Alexei Kovalev continued his scoring tear with both Pittsburgh goals. Kovalev has five goals in his last three games and has the Penguins' last four goals.
Jaromir Jagr, who set an NHL record early in the season by earning a point on 15 consecutive goals, was held without a point for just the fourth time this season.
Jagr, who is hampered by a nagging groin injury but continues to lead the league in scoring, also was held without a point on Thursday in a 5-2 loss to San Jose.
Barrasso stopped 19 shots for the Penguins (8-13-3-3).
Toronto opened the scoring 56 seconds into the game when Sundin scored from the side of the crease off Tie Domi's pass.
But the Leafs registered only three more shots in the period and Kovalev tied the game at 3:28 on a power play with a shot from the point to Joseph's glove side.
Pittsburgh continued to dominate the play in the second period.
After doing a good job of cycling the puck in the Leafs' end, the Penguins streaked in on a 3-on-1 and Kovalev deposited a nice cross-ice pass from Straka past Joseph at 14:17.
The Leafs tied it 2-2 less than a minute later when Hoglund tipped in Dimitri Yushkevich's bouncing point shot.
"We had nothing going in the early going, but they didn't accept that -- it's a good sign," Quinn said. "They showed determination tonight."
Thursday December 2, 1999 Toronto at Carolina
Teams have unwritten rules. The Carolina Hurricanes broke one Thursday night in a 2-2 tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"There is a golden rule in our locker room that it's never good to give up one (goal) in the first two minutes or the last two minutes," Jeff O'Neill said of Garry Valk's first goal of the season with 1:23 left in regulation that tied the score.
"They've got great offensive players and they made the great play on us. A 2-2 tie is not going to crumble our confidence."
O'Neill's goal with 13:46 left looked as if it would stand before Valk took a centering pass from the corner from Sergei Berezin and beat Arturs Irbe between the legs with a soft shot from the slot.
"I had an open net in the second period too that I could have made it 2-0," Valk said. "I felt bad that I didn't put that one in. It was nice that I got a chance to play at the end of the period to make amends."
The Hurricanes improved to 5-1-4 in their last 10 to move within one point of the Florida Panthers for first place in the Southeast Division.
"It's always in the back of your head," Carolina's Bates Battaglia said of a chance to tie the Panthers. "We have to worry more about ourselves than them."
Northeast Division-leading Toronto started the season 9-3-1, but is 5-6-3 over its last 14, going winless in its last six road games (0-4-2).
Carolina hasn't won an overtime game since last January, going 0-2-18 over its last 20.
"They are very quiet in there," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "It would be as close to walking into a loss as you'll find in the room. It wasn't like we were hanging on for dear life. We were carrying the play."
O'Neill's ninth of the season came with Valk off for holding and was on the heels of his four-point night Tuesday. He picked the puck out of the air in the slot after getting a pass from Ron Francis from behind the net and beat Curtis Joseph high.
Carolina limited Toronto to four shots through the opening 26 minutes, bottling up one of the league's top offenses. But the Maple Leafs got back on track midway through the second period.
A shot from the point by Cory Cross was blocked in front by several players jostling for position. However, the puck dropped right on the stick of Dmitri Khristich, who beat a screened Irbe for his seventh goal of the season.
Carolina tied it 1-1 late in the second, scoring in the final 15 seconds of the middle period for the second straight game. This time, a Toronto giveaway led to the tip-in shot by Gary Roberts. It was Roberts' fourth of the season and first in eight games.
Defenseman Sean Hill assisted on both of Carolina's goals, giving him eight points in his last five games.
The Hurricanes, who lead the NHL in fewest penalties and penalty minutes, held Toronto scoreless on two power-play attempts, running their home streak to 29 without allowing a goal a man down.
Carolina also played the final 15:50 without top defenseman Glen Wesley, who left the game with a knee injury, which Maurice said was not serious.