GAME SUMMARIES
Updated: Tuesday January 4, 2000 2:58PM EST
Wednesday December 29, 1999 Toronto at Ny Islanders
The Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders are at opposite ends of the standings, yet much closer in goal.
Curtis Joseph stopped 20 shots as Toronto edged the Islanders on Wednesday night, 2-1 for their sixth-straight win. But Kevin Weekes performed nearly as well, stopping 23 shots.
"To me, Curtis Joseph was the first star of the game and Kevin Weekes was the second star," Islanders coach Butch Goring said, "and that's only because Joseph's team won."
Joseph was given a 1-0 lead just 1:38 into the game when forward Mike Johnson fired a shot wide from the right slot. Igor Korolev got the puck in the high right corner and sent a pass to the low slot where Sergei Berezin one-timed the puck past Weekes.
"Getting the lead is the key," Joseph said. "This way, we can just continue to play our normal game."
New York had scoring opportunities throughout the contest, but Toronto blocked 21 shots and 16 others missed the net.
"We had our chances," Islanders forward Claude Lapointe said. "We just couldn't bury them."
Lapointe took a 15-stitch cut over his right eye when he was clipped by the stick of Jonas Hoglund at 5:20 of the second period. He came back out for the third period and played with an eye shield.
"I felt they needed me," Lapointe said. "It wasn't like I had a broken leg. My vision was good and I thought I could help the team."
No penalty was called on the play by referee Dave Jackson.
"They missed it," Goring said.
The Islanders registered 40 hits, but as the game wound down, Weekes was pulled for an extra skater.
When Kenny Jonsson was hooked down by Toronto forward Mats Sundin in front of the Islanders bench, Hoglund swooped in and grabbed the loose puck and shot it into the empty net at 19:11.
"It's an iffy call," Goring said. "If you look at it from my side, you could scream. If you look at it from the other side, it's a good non-call."
Down by two goals, the Islanders refused to quit, and Dave Scatchard wound up putting the puck past Joseph for his first goal of the season with 26.1 seconds left. The Islanders pressed again and came close, but couldn't gain the tie.
"Cujo was the difference," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "It was our goaltending that kept them off the scoreboard."
Joseph wasn't upset at losing the chance for his fourth shutout this season.
"If you told me before the game we'd win 2-1, I'd say OK," Joseph said. "And then I'd say `Get on the bus, boys.'"
Weekes, a Toronto native, skated in the summer with both Joseph and backup Glenn Healy, and said that he had nothing but respect for both.
"As good as he is on the ice, Cujo is a class individual off the ice," Weekes said. "He and Glenn Healy both have been very supportive of me, even when I was going through my contract troubles with Florida. They've always had words of wisdom for me, and I have nothing but respect for both of them."
Goring said that he wanted to use the Maple Leafs as a guide to see how his team stacks up.
"I thought we played very well and we deserved a better fate," Goring said. "It's a good measuring stick, and it shows we've come a long way since Day 1."
Thurday December 23, 1999 New Jersey at Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs are feeling pretty good about the way they're playing right now.
Five straight wins can do that to a team.
Nik Antropov had a goal and an assist as the Maple Leafs won their fifth straight with a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
"It was one of our best games this year," Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph said. "We're just going to try and keep it going."
Igor Korolev, Jonas Hoglund and Dmitri Khristich also scored for Toronto, which tied Detroit for the most points in the NHL with 50.
Danny Markov set up Antropov to the left of Devils goalie Martin Brodeur for the go-ahead goal at 12:49 of the second period. Antropov, who had only one goal in his first 22 NHL games, has four in his last three.
Claude Lemieux gave New Jersey an early 1-0 lead before the Maple Leafs stormed back.
Lemieux got his stick on Lyle Odelein's point shot to put the Devils up 1-0 at 8:23. Korolev tied it 1-1 with a breakaway goal at 16:05 while killing a cross-checking penalty against teammate Kevyn Adams.
"They're a tough team to play against," Toronto defenseman Bryan Berard said. "They play that trap to a T."
Hoglund's power-play goal at 14:57 of the second period gave the Leafs a 3-1 lead. Khristich added a goal off a pass from Steve Thomas at 15:03 of the third to make it 4-1.
New Jersey outshot Toronto 32-20, but Joseph made a number of outstanding saves.
"It just seemed like we had a lot of jump," Joseph said in deflecting praise to his teammates. "All the lines were going and everybody had good speed.
"I thought we could have had a few more goals."