GAME SUMMARIES
Updated: Saturday November 28, 1998 11:59PM EST
Saturday November 28, 1998 Ottawa at Toronto
Derek King's second goal of the game, on a power play 42 seconds into overtime, gave Toronto a 3-2 comeback victory over the Ottawa Senators and extended the Maple Leafs' home winning streak to six games Saturday night.
Steve Thomas had the other goal for Toronto, which halted the Senators' winning streak at four games.
Alexei Yashin and Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa, which was 8-1-1 when leading after the first period.
Thomas backhanded in a goal on a partial breakaway at 8:54 of the third period to tie the game 2-2.
Yashin and Alfredsson scored 50 seconds apart in the first period as the Senators opened the scoring for the 15th time in 20 games.
Yashin, who skated out from behind the net and snapped a shot past Curtis Joseph, has five goals and eight points in his last five games after scoring only two goals in his first 15 games.
Shawn McEachern, who assisted on the goal, extended his points streak to five games.
Alfredsson, who missed 13 games with knee and eye injuries, scored his first of the season when he picked up the rebound of Andreas Johansson's shot at 9:40.
But the Maple Leafs gave up only one shot the rest of the period and closed the gap to one goal late in the second period when Steve Sullivan streaked in on a breakaway, put on the brakes, spun and passed the puck to King at the edge of the crease.
Friday November 27, 1998 Toronto at Philadelphia
Eric Lindros and Keith Jones each had a goal and two assists and John LeClair scored the game-winner during a wild second period as Philadelphia snapped Toronto's three-game winning streak, 4-3 Friday.
Rod Brind'Amour also scored for the Flyers and LeClair added a pair of assists for Philadelphia, which has won five of its last six games.
Igor Korolev and Todd Warriner each had a goal and and an assist, and Dimitri Yushkevich also scored for the Maple Leafs, who missed a chance for their longest winning streak in four years.
LeClair, who is tied for the NHL lead with 14 goals, put the Flyers ahead for good at 4-3 at 19:11 of the second period. He picked up the puck behind the net and muscled a backhander past goaltender Curtis Joseph, who has lost seven of eight career decisions against the Flyers.
Jones gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 10:41 of the first period by lifting the puck over Joseph during a scramble in front of the net.
Jones has scored eight points in five games for Philadelphia since being acquired from Colorado on Nov. 12.
Warriner tied the game for Toronto 40 seconds later, scoring his first goal of the season after taking a cross-ice pass from Korolev.
Korolev, who has points in 10 of his last 14 games, made it 2-1 with a wrist shot from the slot at 9:24 of the second period _ one of five goals in the period.
Brind'Amour poked the puck in from the left of the crease at 12:31 to pull the Flyers even and Lindros scored on a backhander 1:33 later to put Philadelphia ahead 3-2. Lindros, who now has 301 career assists, entered the game tied for second in the NHL in scoring with 26 points.
Yushkevich's slapshot from just inside the blue line just 34 seconds later later made it 3-3.
Wednesday November 25, 1998 Vancouver at Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their domination of Western Conference teams, defeating the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 Wednesday night in a battle of the two highest scoring teams in the NHL.
The Maple Leafs, who are 9-1-1 against the Western Conference since moving to the East this season, got two goals from Frederick Modin and one each from Mike Johnson, Steve Thomas and Dimitri Yushkevich.
Adrian Aucoin scored for the Canucks, who have lost three straight and five of their past six.
Vancouver is the only Western Conference team to beat Toronto this season.
Curtis Joseph stopped 33 of 34 shots _ including several good chances in the first period _ to lead the Maple Leafs to their third straight win.
The game was put out of reach when Yushkevich scored into an empty net at 10:58 of the third period.
In an unusual tactic, Vancouver coach Mike Keenan pulled goaltender Garth Snow midway through the period with his team on the power play while trailing 3-1.
Yushkevich banked a shot off the boards from Toronto's side of center and it ricocheted into the empty net to make it 4-1. Snow then returned to the goal.
Toronto opened the scoring midway through the second period. Alyn McCauley threw a pass into the high slot for Johnson, who onetimed it past a screened Snow.
The Canucks quickly tied it while on the power play when Aucoin scored his eighth of the season on a shot from the point.
But Thomas responded for the Maple Leafs with a power-play goal of his own, stepping out from behind the net and ripping a shot over Snow.
Monday November 23, 1998 Calgary at Toronto
With players scrambling around the net, somebody forgot to cover defenseman Sylvain Cote. He took advantage, scoring at 7:15 of the third period to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Monday night.
Cote drifted in from the point to take a centering pass from behind the net from Fredrik Modin and beat rookie goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere for his third goal of the season.
"Everybody was converging towards the net, trying to protect the slot," Cote said. "I was lucky enough to come by and just put it in."
Steve Thomas and Derek King also scored for Toronto, which won its fourth straight home game and moved four points up on idle Buffalo atop the Northeast Division.
Valeri Bure and Cory Stillman scored for Calgary, which lost its third straight game -- all on the road.
The Flames exerted pressure in the final minutes, and Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph foiled close-in chances by Andrew Cassels and Jeff Shantz. The Maple Leafs outshot the Flames 33-29.
"Curtis Joseph saved the game for them in the third period," said Flames defenseman Phil Housley, who had two assists. "Give Toronto credit -- they're a good team.
"They have good speed, they play a good transition game. That explains why they're in the good position they're in."
Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn was happy with the two points, but less than satisfied with his team's effort.
"We didn't look like we worked real hard out there," Quinn said. "We had a bunch of guys who didn't move their feet a lot and didn't seem like they were very sharp.
"Every time we turned around, Calgary was taking the play away."
It was 1-1 after one period and 2-2 after two. Toronto's Mike Johnson beat Giguere at 4:30 of the third period but video replay showed teammate Igor Korolev had both feet in the crease so the goal was disallowed.
Calgary went ahead 2-1 at 13:54 of the second period when Stillman banged home his sixth goal off a rebound. The Maple Leafs tied it two minutes later when Yannick Tremblay's shot from the point was deflected by King. The goal was King's sixth in 10 games
Thomas opened the scoring by converting a pass by Mats Sundin from behind the net at 8:12 on a power play. Toronto, with the worst power-play efficiency rating in the league entering the game, went two-for-six with manpower advantages.
Bure made it 1-1 at 14:58 when his drive from the point on a power play found the top corner behind Joseph.
"It wasn't one of our prettiest games, but it's nice to win those," Cote said. "Had we lost that game, you guys (media) would have been all over us -- with good reason, too."
Saturday November 21, 1998 Buffalo at Toronto
Mike Johnson and Igor Korolev scored in the second period to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. Alexei Zhitnik scored in the first period for Buffalo, which had a nine-game undefeated streak snapped (6-0-3).
Korolev beat Sabres goaltender Dominik Hasek on a breakaway at 12:32 of the second period, breaking a 1-1 tie and giving the Maple Leafs (10-8-2) sole possession of first place atop the Northeast Division. The Sabres (8-4-4) are two points back but have four games in hand.
The Maple Leafs were 1-6-3 against Buffalo in 10 previous meetings, and had lost three times to the Sabres this season, including 4-1 Friday night in Buffalo. This time, they outshot the Sabres 31-18.
Curtis Joseph was the winning goaltender.
After falling behind 1-0 on Zhitnik's shorthanded goal, the Maple Leafs stormed back in the second period, outshooting the Sabres 14-5. Alyn McCauley, who fired wide on two partial breakaways in the first, set up Johnson's goal that tied the game.
Friday November 20, 1998 Toronto at Buffalo
The Buffalo Sabres continued their dominance of Toronto and grabbed a share of first place in the Northeast Division from the Maple Leafs with a 4-1 win Friday night as Dominik Hasek made 32 saves. Curtis Brown, Michal Grosek, Matthew Barnaby and Dixon Ward scored for Buffalo, which extended its unbeaten streak to nine games (6-0-3), including three wins over Toronto. Hasek gave up only a second-period goal to Fredrik Modin.
Both teams have 20 points, but Buffalo (8-3-4) has four games in hand over Toronto (9-8-2).
Buffalo swept a home-and-home series with Toronto in October and has an eight-game home unbeaten streak against the Maple Leafs (6-0-2). Maple Leafs goaltender Felix Potvin had played only once since Buffalo beat him 6-3 in the second game of that series Oct. 31 in Toronto. He made 22 saves Friday night.
The Maple Leafs are still looking for their first win in Buffalo since a 3-0 shutout of the Sabres at Memorial Auditorium in February 1991. Since that game, the Sabres are 10-1-4 against the Maple Leafs overall.
Buffalo outshot Toronto 9-4 in the first period. The Sabres scored the first goal with 49 seconds left in the period when Ward controlled the puck behind the net and slid it to Vaclav Varada. His backhander found Brown in front.
The teams combined for three goals in the first five minutes of the second period as the Sabres took a 3-1 lead. Grosek passed to Brown in the slot, gloved Brown's high return pass to the ice and flipped the puck over Potvin's glove for a 2-0 lead at 2:23.
The Maple Leafs cut it to 2-1 on Modin's goal from Tomas Kaberle and Sergei Berezin at 2:47. Barnaby, returning from a four-game suspension for delivering an elbow to the head of Boston's P.J. Axelsson, restored the two-goal lead at 4:27.
Ward's goal, which deflected in off Maple Leafs defenseman Dimitri Yushkevich, made it 4-1 midway through the third period.
Wednesday November 18, 1998 Toronto at Washington
Jan Bulis and Richard Zednik have recovered from their early-season injuries, and the Washington Capitals certainly feel better. Bulis scored his first two goals of the season and assisted on another while Zednik had a goal and an assist to help Washington defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 Wednesday night.
Bulis missed the first 13 games with an ankle injury, and he scored twice and assisted on the other goal during a three-goal second period. This was Bulis' first multi-goal and three-point game in his career, and he said playing on the same line with Zednik is a pleasure.
"I feel confident, a little more (assured)," Bulis said. "(Zednik) skates well, he's a speedy guy. It was working today, and hopefully it will work more."
Zednik had missed the last 10 games after bruising his shoulder on Oct. 21 versus Vancouver. He scored the game-tying goal and assisted Bulis on an insurance goal in the second period.
"I felt great today, and I think it's going to get better," Zednik said. "He can skate with me, and we play well together."
But Zednik's night ended early when he was ejected following a match penalty with 13:08 left after apparently retaliating against Daniil Markov, cutting the Maple Leaf above his right eye.
The return of Bulis and Zednik should help the Washington offense regain some of the punch missing when several players were injured early this season. The Capitals are slowly getting players back and have scored nine goals in the last two games and 17 in the past four.
"We've got a chance of scoring from three different lines," Washington coach Ron Wilson said. "We have three dangerous lines which the other team's coaches and players have to ponder."
Adam Oates scored the team's final goal by making Washington's first penalty shot since Reggie Savage made one against Minnesota on Nov. 18, 1992.
The victory ended Washington's seven-game home winless streak. The Capitals, who now have won two straight for the first time this season, went 0-5-2 after winning their home opener.
Toronto outshot Washington 11-6 in a first period where it repeatedly pressured the Capitals. But Washington controlled play in the final two periods, limiting the Maple Leafs to just 16 shots as goalie Olaf Kolzig was rarely tested. He made 26 saves overall.
The Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead when Derek King scored a power-play goal 2:10 into the first period. Zednik tied the game for the Capitals 58 seconds into the second period. Bulis then gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 4:33 of the period, scoring an unassisted goal on a shot from the right circle.
Bulis made it 3-1 by flipping a loose puck past Joseph with 4:05 left in the second period. Oates got the final goal on his penalty shot 6:22 into the third period. Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph got a piece of the shot, but the puck slowly trickled into the net.
Saturday November 14, 1998 Ottawa at Toronto
Kris King scored short-handed early in the third period to lead the Maple Leafs to a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, only Toronto's second victory against the Eastern Conference this season.
Steve Thomas also scored for the Maple Leafs, who are 9-6-2 overall but only 2-5-1 in the East this season.
It also marked Toronto's first victory against Ottawa since Dec. 5, 1995 -- a stretch of five games (0-4-1). They meet again Nov. 28 at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Magnus Arvedson scored for the Senators (6-6-2), who lost for only the second time in 12 road games dating back to last season.
Both clubs struggled on the power play, each going 0-for-4. Toronto ranks 25th in the 27-team league with the man advantage.
King's second goal of the season made it 2-0 early in the third period. While killing a penalty, the veteran forward skated down on a 2-on-1 and beat Rhodes with a backhand to the short side.
Arvedson spoiled Curtis Joseph's shutout bid with 4:09 left in the third, firing a long slap shot from the point that beat a screened Joseph to the right top corner.
Joseph looked solid for the Maple Leafs, stopping 27 shots. Rhodes, a former Maple Leaf, made 26 saves for the Senators.
Toronto opened the scoring early in the second on a weird one, as Thomas blindly threw the puck out in front from the corner, hitting Rhodes inside the arm and bouncing in the net. Thomas got credit for his seventh goal of the season.
In a scoreless first, Joseph sparkled during a Senators power play late in the period, making four pad saves in less than a minute on point-blank scoring chances _ two from Alexei Yashin, one from Andreas Dackell and the other from Shawn McEachern.
Maple Leafs defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev left the game after injuring his thumb and was taken to a hospital for X-rays.
Thursday November 12, 1998 Toronto at Chicago
Toronto's Mats Sundin made it look easy Thursday night. The Chicago Blackhawks, meanwhile, just looked bad -- just as they have most of the season.
Sundin scored three goals against floundering Chicago as the Maple Leafs cruised to a 10-3 victory Thursday night, leaving the Blackhawks winless in their last eight games (0-7-1).
Sundin peppered Chicago goalie Jeff Hackett for his sixth career hat trick. And Hackett had such a rough night he was pulled three minutes into the final period after surrendering his fifth and sixth goals on just 21 shots.
Toronto then added four goals against backup Mark Fitzpatrick, scoring six times overall in the final period.
It was the first time in 10 years the Blackhawks had given up 10 goals in a game. They lost 10-3 to Boston at home in October, 1988.
Sundin got his first goal late in the opening period to give the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead against the slow-starting Blackhawks, who have been outscored 22-7 in the first period this season and 12-1 during their eight-game skid.
Derek King's short rebound goal came from right in front after Hackett had stopped one shot and the puck wasn't cleared from the crease. That made it 1-0.
Later in the period, Sundin's shot from the right circle on the power play went through Hackett's legs to give the Maple Leafs a two-goal lead.
Sundin scored again early in the second from nearly the same spot, taking a crossing pass from Dimitri Yushkevich and wristing the puck through Hackett's legs.
Three minutes later, Sundin's shot from in close on the right side went off Hackett's pad and into the net for a four-goal Toronto lead, his eighth goal of the season.
Dan Cleary's rebound goal after the puck had been slapped to the left circle accounted for Chicago's score and made it 4-1 after two.
But Steve Thomas' slap shot from between the circles less than a minute into the final period went sailing past Hackett and it was 5-1. Two minutes later, Hackett was beaten on Fredrik Modin's high shot off the right wing and replaced by Fitzpatrick.
Chicago's Tony Amonte got his 10th goal in the final period, skating ahead of the Maple Leafs' defense and faking Felix Potvin to make it 6-2.
But Toronto's Garry Valk answered less than two minutes later, and King got his second of the night to make it 8-2 as the Maple Leafs scored on their first four shots of the final period. Sylvain Cote had Toronto's ninth goal of the night and Todd White scored his first of the season for Chicago on the power play. Mike Johnson capped the scoring with less than two minutes left.
Chicago defenseman Chris Chelios pulled a groin in the first period and could not return.
Wednesday November 11, 1998 Edmonton at Toronto
Goaltender Curtis Joseph withstood a furious charge from his former team to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. Joseph, who made 32 saves, was spectacular in the third period as the Oilers outshot the Leafs 20-2 but could score only once.
It was Joseph's second win in two games against the Oilers this season.
Daniil Markov, Alyn McCauley and Steve Thomas scored in a 3:40 span of the second period for the Leafs, who broke a three-game winless streak and moved over the .500 mark at 7-6-2.
Andrei Kovalenko and Rem Murray replied for the Oilers, who went 0-for-5 on the power play.
The Oilers, who were making their final visit to Maple Leaf Gardens, dropped to 8-6-0.
The Leafs went 1-for-3 on the power play, scoring only their second goal in their last 37 chances with the man advantage.
Toronto, outshot 34-21 overall, is now 6-0 this season when getting outshot.
After a scoreless first period, the Leafs outscored the Oilers 3-1 in the second despite being outshot 10-7.
Murray opened the scoring at 9:56, flipping a shot over the shoulder of Joseph while defenseman Sylvain Cote stood by, unaware of a loose puck near the goal-crease. It was Murray's second of the year.
Markov tied it at 14:43, ripping a 20-foot slapshot to the top corner after a perfect drop-pass from Mats Sundin. It was Markov's first of the season and third of his career.
Twenty seconds later, McCauley scored his fourth of the season, deflecting a Cote point shot past Mikhail Shtalenkov.
Thomas made it 3-1 on a power play late in the period, one-timing a pass across the slot from Steve Sullivan and beating Shtalenkov inside the left post.
Kovalenko cut Toronto's lead to 3-2 early in the third period, banging home a blind pass from Bill Guerin for his fifth goal of the season.
Monday November 9, 1998 Ny Islanders at Toronto
The New York Islanders were outplayed and outshot 39-19 by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. But New York had Tommy Salo in goal, and that was enough.
"Tommy won us that game," said Islanders coach-GM Mike Milbury. "That was the worst game we played as a team, but Tommy was just brilliant." Toronto dominated the first two periods, outshooting the Islanders 27-13. But Salo, who has played in all of the Islanders' 14 games this season, put on a goaltending clinic as New York won 3-1. He made seven saves on Mats Sundin, his Swedish countryman.
"I felt good out there, I just played my game," said Salo, who is tied for the NHL lead with seven victories this season. "Sometimes (my teammates) play well in front of me. (This time) I played really well."
Alyn McCauley was the only Leaf to beat Salo, deflecting in a Dimitri Yushkevich floating point shot. That made the score 1-1 four minutes into the third period.
But enforcer Gino Odjick scored the winner less than three minutes later. Kevin Miller's centering pass from the left corner deflected off Odjick's skate past Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph at 7:21.
Claude Lapointe and Sergei Nemchinov had the other Islanders' goals as the Leafs dropped to .500 (6-6-2) after a 5-1-1 start.
"We had our chances, but the puck just wasn't going in the net," said Joseph. "Everything we directed at him was stopped."
Joseph struggled at the other end, stopping just 16 of 19 shots. He also struggled against the New York Rangers on Saturday, stopping 26 of 32 shots in a 6-6 tie.
"I'm a firm believer that things will even out at the end of the year," Joseph said. "I didn't feel real good out there and some nights you're not going to."
Lapointe opened the scoring 46 seconds into the third period, breaking down the right wing on a 3-on-1 and making a move on Joseph to the short side.
Nemchinov added the insurance goal at 12:26 of the third period.
The Islanders appeared to open the scoring at 4:14 of the first period when Bryan Smolinski's deflection of a Trevor Linden centering pass looked like it crossed the plane of the goal line before Joseph snagged the puck out of midair. Video replay officials said it was inconclusive and ruled no goal.
The Maple Leafs had a goal of their own called back at 10:26 of the second period. Defenseman Sylvain Cote's shot from the point found the top corner behind Salo, but video replay officials ruled Toronto's Mike Johnson was in the crease.
Saturday November 7, 1998 Ny Rangers at Toronto
Wayne Gretzky scored with less than a minute remaining in regulation to lift the New York Rangers to a 6-6 tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Gretzky bounced the puck off Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph and into the net at 19:22 of the third period with Rangers goalie Dan Cloutier on the bench for an extra attacker. Gretzky also had an assist to give him 147 points in 60 career games against the Maple Leafs.
Todd Harvey and Adam Graves each had two goals and an assist for the Rangers, while rookie Manny Malhotra had New York's other goal. Rookie Marc Savard, who was recalled from Hartford of the AHL on Thursday, had four assists in his first game of the season.
Igor Korolev scored twice and had an assist for the Maple Leafs, while Derek King, Mike Johnson, Dimitri Yushkevich and Steve Thomas also scored. Mats Sundin added a pair of assists.
The game marked the return of defenseman Mathieu Schneider to Maple Leaf Gardens after being traded Oct. 14 for Alexander Karpovtsev. Schneider had two assists and Karpovtsev had one.
The Maple Leafs, who had lost their last eight games against the Rangers, haven't beaten New York since Jan. 30, 1993, when Toronto won 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens.
The Leafs blew a 4-2 second-period lead in falling to 1-4-1 against Eastern Conference teams.
The Rangers scored more than three goals in a game for the first time this season. Entering Saturday's contest, they were averaging only 1.5 goals per game.
Rangers starting goalie Mike Richter was replaced by Cloutier at the start of the third period after allowing four goals on 13 shots.
Thursday November 5, 1998 Toronto at Boston
The Boston Bruins finally found some offense. Dimitri Khristich scored his 200th career goal and Sergei Samsonov added a goal and two assists as the Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 Thursday night. The Bruins won for only the second time in their last eight games. They had scored a total of three goals in their previous three games.
"We've had a lot of chances in our last few games, but we just weren't able to finish them," Khristich said. "We knew we were on the right track and tonight we finished those chances."
The Bruins played on home ice for only the third time in their last 11 games.
"Whoever made this year's schedule certainly wasn't a Bruins fan," said Boston goalie Byron Dafoe, who finished with 34 saves.
Samsonov scored his fifth goal of the season at 8:38 of the first period when he poked the puck past the glove hand of Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph to give Boston a 1-0 lead.
"I told our players to play the first and second periods like the game was 0-0," said Bruins coach Pat Burns. "If we could approach it from that standpoint, I thought we could get the win."
Khristich scored his 200th career goal on a power play at 2:59 of the second period when he poked a shot into the net from the right faceoff circle.
"It's a funny thing. My 100th goal came against Boston and my 200th came in Boston, so there has to be something to that," Khristich said.
Steve Heinze made it 3-0 at 6:15 of the period with his fifth goal of the season.
The Maple Leafs had three power-play opportunities in the first period but failed to capitalize on any of them.
"That was the key to the game," said Bruins captain Ray Bourque. "They had their chances and we stopped them."
Darren Van Impe closed the scoring with a power-play goal with 4:14 left in the third period.
"Games within our division are very important because they almost count twice," said Toronto coach Pat Quinn. "We are off to a bad start but it's still early."
Dafoe lost his shutout at 3:45 of the third period when Derek King scored from the right slot on a power play.
Wednesday November 4, 1998 Colorado at Toronto
Curtis Joseph got his first shutout of the season and first regular-season victory over Colorado as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Avalanche 3-0 Wednesday night.
Steve Sullivan, Mats Sundin and Steve Thomas scored for the Maple Leafs, who ended a three-game losing streak.
Joseph, who played for St. Louis and Edmonton before signing with Toronto in the offseason, stopped 24 shots for his 20th career shutout. He had been 0-11-1 against the Avalanche in the regular season.
The Maple Leafs scored all their goals in the second period to beat Colorado in Toronto for the first time since Jan. 6, 1996.
Patrick Roy made 25 saves for the Avalanche, who fell to 3-7-1.
The Leafs won despite going 0-for-4 on the power play. They are 4-for-60 this season with the man advantage, worst in the NHL.
Sullivan ripped a shot over Roy's shoulder at 2:29 to open the scoring.
Thomas made it 2-0 when he picked off a Colorado pass at the blue line, broke in alone and blasted a shot past Roy. Sundin scored his fifth goal of the season 3:30 later when he scored off a rebound from Igor Korolev's shot.