GAME SUMMARIES
Updated: Saturday October 31, 1998 11:08PM EST
Saturday October 31, 1998 Buffalo at Toronto
Geoff Sanderson got the message. "Every day the coaches say to shoot more," said Sanderson, who had three goals in Buffalo's 6-3 victory over Toronto on Saturday night. "The easiest way to get a goal is to get the puck on net. I just shot when I had the chance tonight."
Miroslav Satan, Michael Peca and Alexei Zhitnik also scored for the Sabres, who swept the Maple Leafs in a home-and-home set.
"It's much easier to win when we can score four goals at home, then six on the road," Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek said.
Steve Sullivan, Mike Johnson and Igor Korolev scored for Toronto. The Maple Leafs have lost three straight to drop to 5-4-1.
"The goals we give up always seem so easy," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "I know our play isn't what it was in early games. It's not a reason to put bullets in the boat yet."
Peca redirected Zhitnik's point shot past Felix Potvin at 17:28 of the second period to give Buffalo a 4-3 lead.
Toronto rallied from a 3-0 deficit against Hasek, the two-time defending NHL MVP, with three goals in a four-minute span midway through the second.
"We didn't give up, we came back, that's a positive sign," Toronto forward Tie Domi said.
Potvin, the subject of trade speculation since Toronto signed Curtis Joseph, was jeered by the Toronto fans.
"It unfortunate the fans got on Felix," Domi said. "This situation is really wearing on him. I wish the fans would think of that."
Toronto was 0-for-5 on the power play, and is 4-for-56 on the season -- last in the league. Buffalo went 1-for-3.
Quinn said he didn't want to talk about his team's power play.
"We've asked guys to shoot more," he said.
Friday October 30, 1998 Toronto at Buffalo
Michael Grosek, Matthew Barnaby and Derek Plante each scored first-period goals to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night. Dominik Hasek made 36 saves and had his bid for back-to-back shutouts spoiled with 5:46 left on Mike Johnson's shorthanded goal.
The Sabres ended a three-game winless streak and broke out of a scoring drought in which they had been shut out in two of their past three games.
Grosek got Buffalo started 4:13 into the game when his rebound off Miroslav Satan's shot beat Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph for a 1-0 lead.
Barnaby and Plante each scored his first goals of the season within two minutes of each other late in the first period to give the Sabres a 3-0 lead.
Barnaby's deflection off a pass from Richard Smehlik trickled off Joseph's pads and into the net at 15:38. Plante, who had a goal disallowed early in the period because his skate was in the crease, followed a shot by Jay McKee to make it 3-0.
Brian Holzinger's third goal of the season made it 4-0 late in the second period. It was the third rebound of the game that got past Joseph.
Hasek was on the verge of his 36th career shutout when he challenged Johnson, skating all the way out to the blue line. Johnson flipped the puck over a diving Hasek into the empty net.
The Sabres, who entered the game in last place in the Northeast Division, haven't lost at home to Toronto since 1991 and have a 8-1-4 mark in their last 13 meetings.
Monday October 26, 1998 Pittsburgh at Toronto
Robert Lang and Jaromir Jagr scored power-play goals and Peter Skudra got his first career shutout as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 Monday night. Skudra, a last-minute starter after Tom Barrasso reinjured his groin during warmups, was sensational. He stopped 26 shots, including clutch saves on Mats Sundin, Sergei Berezin and Mike Johnson in the third period.
The shutout was Skudra's first in 21 NHL games. The 25-year-old Russian played 17 games for the Penguins last season and had an impressive 1.83 goals-against average.
At one point in the second period, it appeared Skruda wouldn't be able to finish the game. Penguins defenseman Neil Wilkinson inadvertently bowled into Skudra while trying to check Toronto's Alyn McCauley, and the goalie lay motionless on the ice for two minutes. He got up, however, and stayed in the game.
Jagr assisted on Lang's goal at 2:23 of the second period, then scored the insurance goal at 2:51 of the third to move into a tie for the NHL scoring lead with Sundin and Dallas' Darryl Sydor at 11 points.
The Leafs were 0-for-8 on the power play and are now 4-for-45 on the season, third-worst in the league.
The Penguins were on a power play when Jagr made a slick pass to Lang, who fought off a check and sent the puck past goalie Curtis Joseph.
Jagr wired a wrist shot between Joseph's legs to make it 2-0 early in the third.
Saturday October 24, 1998 Toronto at Pittsburgh
Pat Quinn did not sound like coach whose team beat Detroit and Pittsburgh on consecutive nights to improve to 5-1-1. "We won't win many games playing like we did tonight," Quinn said after the Maple Leafs' 6-4 victory over the Penguins on Saturday night.
The teams will play again Monday night in Toronto.
"We better play them a lot differently," Quinn said. "They worked hard and deserved a better result. We're all excited because we've got some points. We got two points tonight and I'm not sure we deserved them."
Mats Sundin had a goal and three assists for the Maple Leafs, who led 3-1 after the first period.
"Our start carried us through the rest of the game," Sundin said. "That put Pittsburgh in the position of having to chase us the rest of the game and I think they ran out of gas at the end."
The Swedish star, who scored his fourth goal of the season on a power play at 1:40 of the first period, has 17 goals and 18 assists in 21 career games against the Penguins. The Maple Leafs are 2-0-1 in their last three games, including a 5-3 victory Friday night at Detroit.
"Sometimes when you play two in two nights, it's better because you're in a groove," Sundin said.
Sundin set up Fredrik Modin's tiebreaking goal at 4:32 of the third period. That came less than a minute after Pittsburgh's Martin Straka came out of the penalty box, intercepted defenseman Tomas Kaberle's pass and beat Felix Potvin on a breakaway for his second goal of the game.
Toronto made it 5-3 at 6:12 of the third, taking advantage of a 2-on-1 that ended with Kaberle scoring off Garry Valk's pass.
Pittsburgh's Stu Barnes scored with 1:24 left with goalie Peter Skudra off for an extra attacker and Toronto defenseman Sylvain Cote serving a penalty for high-sticking. Kris King completed the scoring with an empty-net goal with 17 seconds remaining.
After Sundin opened the scoring, Pittsburgh's Bobby Dollas tied it 6:09 of the first period. Igor Korolev gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead at 10:41 of the first, and Derek King made it 3-1 with 5:43 left in the period.
Straka scored his first goal of the game at 5:50 of the second period.
Potvin, the subject of numerous trade rumors following signing of free-agent goalie Curtis Joseph, made 30 saves to improve to 2-0-0.
"You don't know what is true and what is not," Potvin said. "I'll just have to wait and see what happens."
Skudra made his second straight start with Tom Barrasso sidelined by a groin injury.
"With average goaltending, we would have gotten the two points, for sure," Skudra said.
Friday October 23, 1998 Toronto at Detroit
Scotty Bowman's return to the Detroit bench was spoiled by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night. Bowman, whose 1,057 victories are the most in NHL history, coached the Red Wings for the first time this season after returning from health problems. But his presence didn't help as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions had their four-game winning streak snapped by the Maple Leafs 5-3. Sergei Berezin had two goals and one assist for Toronto, which also handed Detroit its only other loss this season. Mats Sundin, Tomas Kaberie and Steve Thomas also scored for the Maple Leafs.
It was the first time the Red Wings played with Bowman behind the bench since sweeping the Washington Capitals for their second straight Stanley Cup championship last June. Despite the defeat, it was a special night at Joe Louis Arena from the moment Bowman ambled to his familiar spot behind the bench. The fans began applauding as soon as he strolled out of the tunnel and soon they were all on their feet cheering.
Brendan Shanahan scored for Detroit, extending his goal-scoring streak to five games. Igor Larionov and Martin Lapointe also scored for the Red Wings, who who made it close after falling behind 3-0 and 4-1. The Maple Leafs were clinging to a 4-3 lead when Berezin snapped a shot over Kevin Hodson's stick for the clincher with 1:58 left in the game.
Bowman, who is 65, has been through a lot since winning his eighth Stanley Cup.
Six days after Detroit won its second straight title, Bowman's younger brother died of a heart ailment. Not long afterward, Bowman had a blocked artery cleared. After that, he had his left knee surgically replaced and he lost 20 pounds during his rehabilitation. Assistant coaches Barry Smith and Dave Lewis ran the team during Bowman's absence, guiding the Red Wings to a 4-1 record. Their only loss came in the season opener at Toronto. The Red Wings, wearing their red sweaters instead of the usual home whites, hurt themselves with defensive lapses. A mistake by Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom set up Sundin's goal. Lidstrom left a drop pass just over the Toronto blue line for Steve Yzerman, but Steve Thomas picked it off and shoved the puck over to Sundin streaking the other way. Hodson tried to stand his ground in goal, but Sundin flipped the puck over his stick into the left corner of the net with 5:48 left in the first period for his third goal.
Hodson made a good save on Berezin breaking in alone with 1:10 left in the first, but 26 seconds later Berezin capitalized on another defensive lapse. Hodson stopped his first shot, but Berezin snapped home his own rebound for his fourth goal and a 2-0 Toronto lead. Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph got the assist on that goal.
Kaberie's first NHL goal at 4:24 of the second made it 3-0, just two seconds after Kris Draper returned from high-sticking Alyn McCauley. Kaberie took a feed from Berezin and ripped a shot just inside the left post from the top of the right circle.
Shanahan's seventh goal, from the left circle with 2:01 left in the second, was unassisted and closed the gap to 3-1. But with 46.9 seconds remaining in the period, Thomas poked the puck past Hodson during a scramble in front of the net for his second goal and a 4-1 lead.
Larionov's first goal made it 4-2 at 4:31 of the third period and Lapointe's first goal, on a power play, made it a one-goal game with 7:04 remaining.
An apparent goal by Lapointe with 9:46 left in the second was waved off after a video review showed Yzerman was in the crease. Bowman leaned over the boards for an animated discussion with referee Stephen Walkom after the call, but to no avail.
Monday October 19, 1998 Nashville at Toronto
After a 3-0 start, the Toronto Maple Leafs have lost one game and tied another.The tie Monday night was especially painful for coach Pat Quinn -- it came against the expansion Nashville Predators. "It was a bad game for us," Quinn said after the Maple Leafs and Predators played to a 2-2 tie in the only game between the two teams this season. "We were OK early, OK late but not enough to get two points." Toronto needed a goal from Fredrik Modin at 13:51 of the second period to salvage the point. Andrew Brunette scored and also assisted on Sergei Krivokrasov's goal at 12:30 of the second that gave the Predators (1-2-1) a 2-1 lead. Sergei Berezin gave Toronto (3-1-1) the initial lead in the first period. "The way Toronto's playing, they should really be undefeated," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "Hopefully the guys realize that the Leafs are one of the best teams in the league and we should be happy with the tie." Mike Dunham played well for the Predators, stopping 30 shots as Toronto outshot Nashville 32-25. "We worked hard and salvaged a point," Dunham said. "We almost had a couple chances to score and we have to be happy as a team."
Alexander Karpovtsev, playing his first game for Toronto since being traded with a draft pick from the New York Rangers for the rights to Mathieu Schneider last Wednesday, helped the Predators more than the Maple Leafs after missing two games with a bruised knee. Karpovtsev took two penalties, one of which resulted in Brunette's goal that tied the game 1-1 early in the second. He also slipped on a partial three-on-two rush by the Predators that led to Krivokrasov's first of the season. That goal seemed to wake up the Maple Leafs a bit as Modin countered just 1:21 later when Steve Sullivan set him up from behind the net. Sullivan was playing his first game after being a healthy scratch for the previous four contests. He started on a line with Kris King and Tie Domi, but by the end of the game he was playing with Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin. "It was tough. I hadn't played in more than 20 days and the legs weren't quite there," Sullivan said. "The only pressure I felt is that I wanted to be in the lineup for the next game." Berezin continued his early-season success with his team-high third goal of the season in the first period when he knocked in the rebound of a Dimitri Yushkevich point shot. Toronto was stopped on several good chances by Dunham late in the game. The Maple Leafs went 0-for-5 on the power play while Nashville was 1-for-5.
Sunday October 17, 1998 Toronto at Vancouver
Pat Quinn, in his first trip back to Vancouver, got the standing ovation. But Garth Snow and Mark Messier stole the spotlight.
Snow stopped 39 shots after he let in the first one, while Messier scored the 599th goal of his career and set up two others as the Vancouver Canucks won 4-1 to end the Toronto Maple Leafs' three-game winning streak Saturday night.
All that Quinn could take out of the evening was a standing ovation he received from the crowd of 17,315, when a picture of him standing behind the Maple Leaf bench -- with a caption, "Welcome back, Pat" -- was broadcast over the video scoreboard.
"That was terrific. I'm just very honored that that happened," said Quinn, who spent 11 seasons in the Vancouver front office, including stints as coach, before he was fired from his post as president and general manager last November. After considering a career change after undergoing hip replacement surgery last spring, Quinn took up the Maple Leafs' offer to coach the team last summer.
Saturday, Quinn would have rather won the game than reminisce about the past.
"We should've had this one. There's no question in my mind," said Quinn, whose Maple Leafs were foiled from opening the season with a 4-0 record. "The facts are we didn't do the things that are necessary to win. We have to learn that. ... I don't want them to think there's consolation in (playing well). We lost in a game that we did a lot of good things in. The bottom line is we lost."
The difference was Snow, whose Canucks were outshot 40-17, and the Canucks' power play, which capitalized on three of four opportunities. Snow had an outstanding game after allowing Sylvain Cote's goal that opened the scoring 1:28 into the game. Snow (2-1-0) stopped 15 shots in the second period alone. His biggest save came six minutes into the third when he reached back with his glove to stop Mike Johnson, who had an entire open side to shoot at.
"It was a rebound and I kind of just dove in desperation and he just shot it into the webbing," said Snow of his save on Johnson. In his last start, Snow gave up four goals in Wednesday night's 4-1 loss to Edmonton. "I'm glad I played. I'm thankful (coach Mike Keenan) gave me the opportunity again," said Snow. "I felt good. I let in a goal on the first shot. And then after that it seemed everything went smoothly. "All Keenan would say about Snow's performance was, "It was stupdendous." After Mattias Ohlund tied the game at 1-1 with a power-play goal with 1:17 left in the first period, Messier scored the go-ahead goal with 1:26 left in the second. Adrian Aucoin's point shot deflected off Canuck Brad May, who was standing in front of the net, and the puck dribbled to Messier who was parked alone to the left of Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph. It was Messier's second goal of the season and pulled him within two goals of former Edmonton Oiler teammate Jari Kurri, who retired last season with 601 career goals. Messier, 10th overall on the all-time scoring list, said No. 600 doesn't matter much to him. He's shooting for 700. "I'm not really looking at 600 as a big milestone. I don't know how many guys have ever done it, I just have to score the 600th and then start going for 700," said Messier, a six-time Stanley Cup champion who is in his 20th NHL season. "Obviously, longevity is key to that as far as scoring that many goals. ... It's going to be exciting to (hit 600), but I'm going to be more so concerned with trying to score the 700th." The Canucks put the game away when Todd Bertuzzi scored on a breakaway 1:57 into the third period, and Brad May scored a power-play goal with six minutes left. The Maple Leafs, coming off a 7-3 win over Calgary on Friday night, went 0-for-7 on the power play against Vancouver.
Friday October 16, 1998 Toronto at Calgary
Mike Johnson and Alyn McCauley scored two goals each as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Calgary Flames 7-3 Friday night.
Steve Thomas, Sergei Berezin and Tie Domi also scored for the Leafs, who jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first period. Felix Potvin made 30 saves in his first start of the season.
Jarome Iginla scored twice and Valeri Bure once for the Flames (1-1-1), who hadn't played since opening the season in Tokyo against San Jose last week.
Toronto stunned a capacity crowd of 17,104 on hand for the Flames' season opener by scoring two quick goals. Thomas converted his second breakaway of the game at 1:29, and 29 seconds later Berezin was set up on a 2-on-1 break by Gary Valk
Johnson, a second-year pro out of Bowling Green, made it 3-0 at 9:03 on a slap shot from the slot. Seven minutes later, he skated around onrushing goaltender Ken Wregget and scored into an open net on a breakaway. The Flames narrowed the gap to 4-2 in the second period before Domi stopped Calgary's momentum with a deflection of Jason Smith's shot at 13:10. Toronto wraps up a three-game road trip in Vancouver on Saturday night while Calgary hits the road for four games beginning Sunday at Detroit. This is the first time Toronto has started a season with three straight victories since 1993, when it started with 10 in a row.
Tuesday October 13, 1998 Toronto at Edmonton
Wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform, Curtis Joseph didn't look any different to the Edmonton Oilers.Joseph, who signed as a free agent with the Maple Leafs in the offseason, made a triumphant return to Edmonton to lead Toronto to a 3-2 victory over the Oilers on Tuesday night.
"I didn't want to lose, I can tell you that," said Joseph after making 28 saves. "When Mats scored the third goal, I was happy to see it go in."
Mats Sundin scored twice, including the winner midway through the third period.
Joseph was playing against his former teammates for the first time since leaving Edmonton as an unrestricted free agent and signing a four-year, $24 million deal with the Maple Leafs in July.
"I had a fantastic time when I was here," Joseph said. "I spent 2� good years here. It was a tough decision to make during the summer, moving on. That's the business side of it."
Joseph admitted he was nervous before the opening faceoff, but described it as "a healthy nervousness."
The boos were much louder than the cheers when Joseph was introduced before the start of the game.
"I didn't really notice," Joseph said. "I've been booed in opposing buildings before."
He was also booed when he made his first save and when he was announced as the game's second star.
"Cujo would have been my first star," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "He was solid."
Garry Valk had the other goal for the Maple Leafs (2-0), who were 2-for-6 on the power play.
Rem Murray and Bill Guerin scored for the Oilers, who are 0-2 for the first time since 1995, when they started the season with four straight losses.
After a scoreless first period, the Maple Leafs took a 2-0 lead on Sundin's first goal at 4:21 of the second and Valk's power-play goal at 17:46.
Murray scored before the end of the period to make it 2-1.
Joseph made key saves against Dean McAmmond, Mike Grier and Josef Beranek as the Oilers dominated play early in the third period. Guerin got the tying goal at 8:54 of the third.
Sundin got the winner less than two minutes later with Murray in the penalty box for boarding. Igor Korolev slid a pass to Sundin, who wristed a shot from the bottom of the right circle past Oilers goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov.
The Oilers were 0-for-4 on the power play. Shtalenkov finished with 26 saves.
Saturday October 10, 1998 Detroit at Toronto
Alyn McCauley scored late in the second period and the
Toronto Maple Leafs withstood three Detroit power plays in the third period
to hand the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings a 2-1
defeat Saturday night.
Sergei Berezin also scored for the Maple Leafs, who were playing their 68th
and final home opener at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Maple Leafs play their
last game at the Gardens on Feb. 13 against Chicago, then move to the new
Air Canada Centre with a game against Montreal on Feb. 20.
The Leafs wore a commemorative third jersey that featured a 35-point leaf
crest on the front and solid blue yolking along the shoulders. They will wear
the jersey a total of 10 times (5 at home, 5 on the road) versus only Original
Six teams.
Larry Murphy scored for the Red Wings, who went 1-for-7 on the power
play.
Goaltender Curtis Joseph, signed in the offseason to a four-year $24 million
deal, was spectacular in his Maple Leafs debut, stopping 38 shots -- including
15 in the third.
Chris Osgood also looked sharp in goal for Detroit with 25 saves.
The Maple Leafs, a league-best 6-2-1 in the preseason, were hoping their
winning ways would carry into the regular season, and they did.
A rare offensive display from Tie Domi helped Toronto take a 2-1 lead with
less than five minutes left in the second. Domi threaded a nice pass behind the
Red Wings' defense in the right slot to McCauley, who lifted a wrist shot in the
top right corner past Ogood's outstretched glove.
Murphy, the former Maple Leaf that fans loved to hate in Toronto, opened the
scoring on the power play 7:10 into the first, slapping home a rebound from a
severe angle past a sprawled Joseph.
The Maple Leafs tied it with 27 seconds left in the first when Berezin pounced
on a giveaway by Osgood in front the Detroit net. The Russian right wing
rifled a low shot between Osgood's pads.
Moments earlier, the Maple Leafs hit a post and Berezin was robbed on the
rebound by Osgood's quick glove during an 18-second five-on-three power
play.