GAME SUMMARIES
Updated: Monday October 5, 1998 5:57PM EST
Monday October 5, 1998 Chicago at Toronto
Dan Cleary scored late in the second period as the Chicago Blackhawks earned a 2-2 tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs in an
exhibition game Sunday night. Yannick Tremblay and Steve Thomas scored first-period goals for Toronto, which finished the preseason at 6-1-2. Former Maple Leaf Doug Gilmour had the other goal for Chicago (2-4-1). Tremblay scored his third goal of the preseason _ one more than he had in 38 regular-season games last year _ at 5:18 of the first when his wrist shot from just inside the blue line beat screened Chicago goaltender Mark Fitzpatrick.
Thomas scored a power-play goal at 11:39 to give Toronto a 2-0 lead. Gilmour scored on a second-period power play, deflecting a point shot by Chris Chelios past Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph.
Cleary evened the score at 16:38 of the second with his sixth goal of the preseason. The Maple Leafs outshot the Blackhawks 35-25.
Saturday October 3, 1998 Carolina at Toronto
Sergei Berezin scored two goals to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in a preseason game
Saturday night. Mats Sundin, Darby Hendrickson and Niklas Andersson also scored as the Maple Leafs improved to 6-1-1. Toronto lost 2-0 to the Hurricanes on Friday night. Jeff O'Neill scored for the Hurricanes. After Carolina took an early 1-0 lead, Toronto scored five straight goals, including three in a 2:29 span of the third period. Toronto's Felix Potvin made 24 saves, while Carolina's Trevor Kidd stopped 21 shots. Keith Primeau was named Carolina's captain Saturday, the 11th in franchise history.
Friday October 2, 1998 Carolina at Toronto(Hamilton)
Keith Primeau and Robert Kron each had a goal and an assist as the Carolina Hurricanes handed the Toronto Leafs their first preseason loss, 2-0 Friday night.
Arturs Irbe stopped 25 shots for Carolina (5-2-0), while Curtis Joseph made 28 saves for Toronto (5-1-1).
Kron took a feed from Primeau and scored just 87 seconds into the game. With 2:05 left in the third period, Marek Malik's shot from the point was stopped by Joseph, but Primeau put in the rebound to make it 2-0 for the Hurricanes.
Wednesday September 30, 1998 Montreal at Toronto
Yannick Tremblay scored a power-play goal with 1:31 left in overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in an exhibition game Wednesday night.
Toronto's Mike Johnson tied it at 8:04 of the third period, and Dimitri Yushkevich and Sergei Berezin also scored for the Maple Leafs (5-0-1). Trent McCleary, Patrick Poulin and Dave Morissette scored for Montreal (3-4-0).
The Maple Leafs played without captain Mats Sundin, who flew home to Sweden on Wednesday for his grandfather's funeral.
Saturday September 26, 1998 Toronto at Montreal
Ladislav Kohn and Sergei Berezin scored goals and Felix Potvin made 22 saves Saturday night as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in an exhibition game. Igor Korolev set up both goals for Toronto (4-0-1) as Kohn beat Jose Theodore with a quick shot under the cross bar at 4:07 of the second period and Berezin, trailing on the rush, scored from the slot 2:46 into the third. Martin Gendron scored for Montreal (2-3) when he banged in a rebound at 9:51 of the third period. The Maple Leafs, who outshot Montreal 26-23, went 0-for-10 on the power play, while Montreal was 0-for-4.
Friday September 25, 1998 Buffalo at Toronto
Dmitri Yushkevich and Nikolai Borschevsky scored on two of Toronto's 15 power-play opportunities and the Maple Leafs beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-2 in an exhibition game Friday night.
The Maple Leafs (3-0-1) also got a shorthanded goal from Derek King and even-man scores from Tie Domi, Steve Thomas and Scott Pearson. Dixon Ward and Curtis Brown scored shorthanded goals for the Sabres (0-4-0), who had 11 power-play opportunities in the game that employed the experimental use of two referees. Curtis Joseph of Toronto and Buffalo's Dominik Hasek played the whole game which saw the Maple Leafs finish with a 31-30 advantage in shots on goal.
Wednesday September 23, 1998 Toronto at Edmonton
Right wing Mike Johnson scored three goals to spark the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in a pre-season NHL game Wednesday night. Center Mats Sundin added a goal and two assists and goaltender Felix Potvin stopped all 22 shots he faced in the second half of the game at the newly
named Skyreach Centre, formerly the Edmonton Coliseum. Garry Valk had the other goal for Toronto (2-0-1), which was outshot 36-28.
Andrei Kovalenko and Bill Guerin scored for Edmonton (0-3-1).
Johnson scored on the Maple Leafs' first shot against rookie goaltender Tim Thomas, 57 seconds into the game. Johnson's second goal was in a shorthanded situation at 16:01 of the first and he added his third goal on a power play at 2:08 of the third.
Glenn Healy started in goal for Toronto. Each team lost a player through injury. Edmonton center Mats Lindgren left early with a shoulder injury. Toronto right wing Steven Rice suffered a
concussion in the second period. Rice was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
Sunday September 20, 1998 Toronto at Buffalo
There was nothing about last night's 5-2 pre-season win over the Sabres that would make the Maple Leafs regret signing goalie Curtis Joseph. But they may have lost a degree of bargaining power in their quest to trade Felix Potvin. Every day that goes by without a deal leaves Toronto in a more precarious position with the annual NHL waiver draft less than three weeks away. Since clubs can protect only two goalies, the Leafs could be forced to expose Glenn Healy if Potvin is still a Leaf in October. The Vancouver Canucks or Montreal Canadiens -- both in search of a veteran goalkeeper -- may be somewhat interested in the 36-year-old backup, who won a Stanley Cup in 1994 with Mike
Keenan and the New York Rangers. The Habs, who lost 38-year-old Andy Moog to retirement in the off-season, could envision Healy as a mentor to relatively inexperienced goalies Jocelyn Thibault and Jose Theodore. However, Leafs president/general manager Ken Dryden thinks Healy, a $1.5-million backup, might be too pricey for either team's budget. "No, I don't think (the waiver draft increases the pressure to trade Potvin)," Dryden said. "One of the considerations for teams is the very high salary. It's always difficult to add a high salary at this time of year."