GAME SUMMARIES
Updated: Thursday April 1, 1999 10:48AM EST
Wednesday March 31, 1999 Toronto at Vancouver
Yanic Perreault's second turn with the Toronto Maple Leafs is proving far more enjoyable than his first.
Reacquired at the NHL trading deadline from the Los Angeles Kings, Perreault has been on a tear. Wednesday night, he had two goals and one assist to spark the Maple Leafs to a 6-5 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
The loss mathematically eliminated the Canucks from playoff contention.
"Before I got here, I knew it was the best offensive team in the league," Perreault said. "You can see the defenseman jumping into the play and you've got some speed with the forwards. I like that kind of game."
Perreault has racked up three goals and three assists in four games since joining the club.
His second goal of the night stood up as the game-winner in a wild third period in which the teams combined for six goals -- three each -- over the final 20 minutes. The Maple Leafs, who went ahead for good with two goals over a span of 1:42 in the second period, almost squandered a 5-2 third-period lead.
"Yeah, we didn't finish the game the way we wanted to," said Perreault, who was dealt to the Kings in 1995 after bouncing between the NHL and the Maple Leafs' minor system over two seasons. "But at least we got two points."
The two points were big for the Maple Leafs -- now 2-0-1 in their last three games -- as they took over fourth place in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of the idle Pittsburgh Penguins. Improving to 40-28-6, the Maple Leafs also reached the 40-win plateau for only the fifth time in franchise history.
"It looked like it was, who gets the last shot. But, I'll take it." said Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn, who was facing his former team for the third time since being fired by the Canucks in November 1997.
Quinn didn't blame goalie Glenn Healy, who was making a rare start in place of Curtis Joseph, for what happened in the third period. But he blamed his team's defensive play.
"It was not very attentive work by some people. We probably had some guys thinking about (scoring goals). That's the only way I can explain it," said Quinn.
The Maple Leafs appeared to have the victory in hand when Steve Thomas -- who banked a shot in off goalie Kevin Weekes from behind the net -- and Perreault scored a minute apart to give Toronto a 5-2 lead 5:04 into the third period.
That's when the Canucks rallied.
After Harry York made it 5-3 at 9:44, Alexander Mogilny fired a shot from the slot that deflected in off the left post to cut Toronto's lead to 5-4 at 11:38.
Perreault scored 22 seconds later, rifling a shot from the right circle that beat Weekes.
The Canucks weren't done, however, as Markus Naslund deflected in Ed Jovanovski's shot with 6:04 remaining.
Vancouver failed to capitalize on a power-play opportunity with under three minutes left.
Thomas also scored twice for the Maple Leafs while Steve Sullivan and Daniil Markov had a goal each.
Mogilny led the Canucks with two goals and an assist while Adrian Aucoin also scored as Vancouver's two-game winning streak came to an end. Vancouver hasn't won three straight since February 1998.
Vancouver's Dave Gagner picked up an assist to record the 400th of his career.
Canucks captain Mark Messier left the bench in the third period with a groin injury and did not return. He's listed as day-to-day.
Weekes, who faced 27 shots, has yet to win a game over parts of two NHL seasons. His record with Vancouver dropped to 0-6-1. Acquired as part of the deal that sent Pavel Bure to the Florida Panthers last January, Weekes was touted as the Canucks "goalie of the future" by general manager Brian Burke.
While Weekes didn't make himself available to reporters following the game, teammate Bryan McCabe said the club hasn't lost confidence in their goalie, who's now given up 26 goals in just over seven games.
"Kevin's a great goalie, we just had some tough breaks," said McCabe. "They had some good shots, one went right under the cross bar. It's going to come for him. We just have to keep working. We'll get one for him sooner or later."
Saturday March 27, 1999 Boston at Toronto
Ray Bourque tied Paul Coffey for most goals scored by a defenseman but the Toronto Maple Leafs scored two third-period goals to come back and tie the Boston Bruins 2-2 on Saturday night.
The Bruins were coasting until Sergei Berezin got the Maple Leafs going with his team-leading 29th goal with 7:18 left.
With Curtis Joseph pulled for an extra attacker, Daniil Markov tied the game with 55 seconds remaining in regulation.
Bourque's 10th goal of the season, the 385th of his career, came in the first period and gave Boston a 1-0 lead. Joe Thornton extended the lead to 2-0 with a second-period goal.
The Maple Leafs outshot the Bruins 3-0 in overtime but could not beat Byron Dafoe, who made 25 saves
The Maple Leafs have won two straight, but had trouble scoring on Saturday after blitzing Carolina for seven goals the night before.
The Bruins, who hold the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, are unbeaten in their last six games (3-0-3) and extended their lead over the Florida Panthers to six points.
Bourque scored his goal in style 8:11 into the game, when he blasted a slap shot from the left point past Joseph.
The 20-year veteran, who leads all defensemen with 35 power-play points, extended his points streak to six games and has 22 points in his last 23 games.
Joseph, who made 24 saves, was beaten on another hard slap shot 6:21 into the second when Thornton unleashed a hard shot from the point.
Berezin gave the Maple Leafs life when he picked up Garry Valk's botched drop pass to Yanic Perreault and snapped it past Dafoe while falling.
With less than two minutes remaining and the Maple Leafs down by a goal, Joseph made an outstanding toe save on Landon Wilson.
The Maple Leafs came streaking back the other way and Markov scored from the slot on a crisp pass from Steve Sullivan.
The Maple Leafs had only two shots in the second period, tying a season low set March 4 in St. Louis.
Although Boston and Toronto had four power-play opportunities in the second period, they combined for only six shots in the period.