GAME SUMMARIES
Updated: Sunday October 24, 1999 12:41AM EST
Saturday October 23, 1999 Montreal at Toronto
The Montreal Canadiens against the Toronto Maple Leafs is the premier NHL matchup in Canada, but it was a bunch of Europeans who stole the show Saturday night.
Russian Sergei Berezin's end-to-end goal late in the second period gave the Leafs a 3-2 victory in a game that marked the debut of free-agent signee Dmitri Khristich.
"We played pretty good," said fellow Russian Igor Korolev, the game's first star. "We've been struggling a bit, so this was a good game for us."
Korolev and Alyn McCauley had the other goals for Toronto.
With the score 2-2, Berezin took a pass from goalie Curtis Joseph and streaked down the ice. Against four defenders, he took a shot from the blue line, picked up his own rebound, deked goalie Jeff Hackett and snapped it into the empty net.
"I think we caught them on a change. Cujo (Joseph) made a good play," said Berezin, who leads the NHL with 44 shots. "I've been getting a lot of shots. I'm always looking for rebounds."
Brian Savage continued his early-season tear with his league-leading 10th goal for Montreal (3-7-0-0). Rookie Mike Ribeiro scored Montreal's other goal, the first of his NHL career.
Khristich had a strong game playing left wing with rookie center Nikolai Antropov and Mike Johnson.
"I felt fine out there," said Khristich, who had 29 goals in both of his seasons with the Boston Bruins. "There were a couple shots I made that I didn't put where I wanted to, but it will come."
Although Khristich, a six-time 20-goal-scorer, was held off the scoreboard, he had five shots and eight good scoring opportunities on Hackett.
"He reminded me a lot of Sergei with the number of shots he tried," McCauley said.
Leafs coach-GM Pat Quinn was also impressed.
"He did well for a first outing," Quinn said. "He got himself in good spots and had some good chances. It didn't show up on the scoreboard, but those things will come."
Joseph, who made a couple big stops late in the game while shorthanded, made 20 saves for his fifth win. Hackett also stopped 20 shots.
Savage opened the scoring on a strong drive to the net 8:48 into the game. Holding off Toronto defenseman Cory Cross, Savage lifted the puck over Joseph while on both knees to extend his goal-scoring streak to five games.
Savage, noted for his strong starts and late-season fizzles, had only 16 goals last season, but has just as many as the rest of his teammates combined this year.
McCauley tied it later in the period, but Ribiero put the Canadiens back on top 24 seconds into the second.
Korolev's game-tying goal midway through the second had Montreal coach Alain Vigneault riled up after the game. Hackett appeared to have the puck smothered, but Korolev crashed into the netminder and when the whistle wasn't blown, dug it out for his second goal of the season.
"There are rules," Vigneault said. "And if refs don't do it, then the players on the ice will have to do it and we know where that will wind up."
Wednesday October 20, 1999 Carolina at Toronto
Maybe the Carolina Hurricanes should play all their games on the road this season.
The Hurricanes, who have yet to play a home game, continued their strong road play when they rallied to tie the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-3 Wednesday night.
"The road trip has really been a benefit to us," said Carolina's Gary Roberts. "We've got some good young players who have jelled well during this stretch and it's sometimes easier to catch teams a little off guard at home.
"I think we'll ask for the first nine games on the road again next season."
The Hurricanes started the season on the road while waiting for their new arena facility to be finished. The Hurricanes are now 3-1-3-0, with weekend games at Buffalo and Pittsburgh before opening their new rink Oct. 29 against New Jersey.
The Maple Leafs appeared on their way to a win as goals by Alyn McCauley, Cory Cross and Yanic Perreault gave them a 3-1 lead early in the second period.
"Then we went brain dead really fast," said Toronto coach Pat Quinn. "We were solid the first 12 or 13 minutes of the second period, then it was just a lack of concentration that let us down.
"Give Carolina credit though. They've got a good-looking team."
Roberts and Jeff Daniels late in the second to tie the game.
Andrei Kovalenko opened the scoring in the first period.
Daniels' tying goal came when linemate Kent Manderville intercepted a poor clearing attempt by Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph.
Carolina had the best opportunity to win in overtime, playing with a four-on-three man advantage for most of the first two minutes after Toronto's Igor Korolev took a hooking penalty with 10 seconds left in the third
"We practice four-on-fours, not four-on-threes," said Maple Leafs center Steve Sullivan. "It was a tough situation.
"There was so much open ice out there. Usually the team with a four-on-three advantage is going to score."
The Hurricanes managed one shot on Joseph during the advantage even though they controlled the puck in the Toronto zone for most of the man power play.
Joseph also stopped Bates Battaglia on a partial breakaway midway through the extra period. Carolina goalie Arturs Irbe foiled Sullivan on a partial breakaway.
Irbe turned aside 32 shots; Joseph faced 27.
Saturday October 16, 1999 Toronto at St. Louis
Roman Turek felt his best, and felt even better after finally winning his first game with the St. Louis Blues.
"I had a feeling tonight was the night," Turek said after stopping 20 shots in the Blues' 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
Turek had been 0-3-0 since joining the Blues after being traded from the Dallas Stars.
"I felt a little better in the game against Detroit the other night, even though we lost," Turek said. "Tonight I felt good about every part of the game."
Blues coach Joel Quenneville said Turek played his best game of the season.
"He looked sharper tonight then he has in his first three games this year," Quenneville said. "I'm sure this win will help his confidence."
The Blues beat Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph for only the fourth time in 13 games since Joseph left the Blues after the 1995 season.
The Blues led 1-0 after the first period on Terry Yake's first goal of the season. Yake scored on a power play at 19:57 on a shot that beat Joseph from the left circle.
The Blues made it 2-0 at 3:25 of the second on Jochen Hecht's first goal. Hecht beat Joseph with a slap shot from the left circle after a pass from Pavol Demitra.
Joseph was slow getting to the net on the Blues' third goal. Joseph went behind his goal to clear the puck, but it came out to Scott Pellerin for an easy goal.
Sergei Berezin scored for Toronto on a power play at 9:22 of the second period to make the score 3-1.
Mike Eastwood gave the Blues a three-goal lead again at 12:21 of the second period on his first score of the season. Mike Johnson made the score 4-2 at 17:23 of the third period.
Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn said Joseph should have stopped Yake's goal, "but he couldn't do anything about the others. Not everybody on our team was playing hard tonight."
Turek made three saves on shots by Berezin during a Maple Leafs power play midway through the final period.
Pierre Turgeon and Craig Conroy each had two assists for the Blues.
The Blues were without Al MacInnis and the Maple Leafs were without Mats Sundin. Both are recovering from fractured ankles.
Friday October 15, 1999 Toronto at Chicago
If not for the stick of one of his teammates, Toronto goaltender Glenn Healy might have earned his 12th career NHL shutout Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Cruising to a victory, the Maple Leafs led Chicago 2-0 late in the third period before the Blackhawks got on the board with 7:05 left in regulation when Josef Marha's shot from the right circle deflected off the stick of Toronto defenseman Cory Cross and over Healy's glove.
Still, Healy, Toronto's back-up netminder to Curtis Joseph, and the Maple Leafs were able to hold off the late Chicago flurry for a 2-1 win.
"He (Healy) was the difference in a pretty even game," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "We thought it would be important to get Glenn in and give Curtis a rest. We've been playing reasonably well, but certainly our goaltending has been the difference."
"Tonight was a new night, a fresh challenge against a hungry team," said Healy, whose 25-save effort was supported by a first- period, power-play goal by Jonas Hoglund and an even-strength goal in the second period by Yanic Perreault.
With the win, Toronto improved to 5-2-0 despite skating without star center Mats Sundin, who's out with a fractured ankle.
"With Mats Sundin out, we have two options -- fold our tent or dig our heels in," Healy said. "This team has too much character to fold."
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks remained winless at 0-3-2. Although Chicago is one of four NHL teams without a victory, the Blackhawks claim they're not desperate ... yet.
"We haven't won a hockey game, but I think we've played well enough to win," Chicago coach Lorne Molleken said. "We've got to stay focused and not panic."
"We played well defensively," added Chicago goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, who faced 25 Toronto shots. "But if we win tomorrow (at Pittsburgh) we can turn this thing around."
Still, Chicago got off on the wrong foot Friday.
Hoglund's deflection during a Toronto power play at 12:44 of the first period opened the scoring. Stationed in the slot, he redirected Alexander Karpovtsev's shot from the right point past Thibault.
Perreault converted a two-on-one break with Hoglund at 16:07 of the second period to extend the Maple Leafs' lead to 2-0. Carrying the puck down right wing, Perreault faked a pass to Hoglund, but then fired himself and beat Thibault with a high, glove-side shot.
Marha ruined Healy's shutout bid during a Chicago power play with 7:05 left in regulation on the Blackhawks' 22nd shot on goal of the contest.
Wednesday October 13, 1999 Florida at Toronto
Yanic Perreault knows he can never replace Mats Sundin. He did a pretty good imitation of the Toronto Maple Leafs' top player on Wednesday night, though.
Perreault deflected a point shot by Danny Markov on a power play with 5:37 remaining to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.
It was Perreault's first goal of the season and broke a 2-2 tie with the Panthers, who were without star right wing Pavel Bure, nursing a strained groin.
"I just wanted to crash the net and maybe screen the goalie," said Perreault, playing with forwards Steve Thomas and Jonas Hoglund on Toronto's top line in the wake of Sundin's injury.
"Luckily, Danny's shot hit my stick and deflected into the opposite corner."
Hoglund and Tomas Kaberle also scored for Toronto. Rookie Ivan Novoseltsev, playing in his first NHL game, scored both goals for Florida.
The loss was the first of the season for the Panthers, now 3-1-1-0. The win improved Toronto's record to 4-2-0-0 and ended a two-game losing streak.
"It was an important win for a number of reasons," said Toronto coach Pat Quinn, alluding to the fact the Maple Leafs will be without Sundin for another six weeks. "We battled all night.
"We didn't create a lot of easy chances, but we got challenged and we won the game."
Perreault, who assisted on Hoglund's second-period goal and now has six points in six games, said he's not bothered by earlier reports that he's on the trading block due to an abundance of offensive centers in Toronto and an arbitration ruling that gave him a salary more than the Maple Leafs were interested in paying.
"I'm just going to play the game," he said. "I won't worry about the rest of that stuff."
With Bure and Sundin out, Novoseltsev scored the opening and go-ahead goals for Florida and almost stole the spotlight. Recalled earlier in the day from the Louisville AHL farm club, Novoseltsev said he couldn't sleep after learning he'd be making his NHL debut against the Maple Leafs.
"I caught a 7:55 flight this morning, got in about noon, and really felt great," said the 20-year-old Russian, who scored 57 goals and 96 points in 68 OHL games with the Sarnia Sting last season. "I was really excited. It's a great thrill to score twice."
Linemate Viktor Kozlov had two assists.
Sundin broke a bone in his right ankle during a 4-3 loss Saturday in Ottawa. Bure strained a groin muscle in Florida's 2-1 win over Montreal on Tuesday.
"It's just a slight groin strain," said Panthers coach Terry Murray. "But we have to make sure a player is healthy before putting him in the lineup."
Murray said it's a 50-50 chance whether Bure will return to the lineup Saturday at home against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
The groin injury is in no way related to the serious knee injury Bure suffered last Feb. 5. He had three goals and six points in his first four games with the Panthers this season.
Besides Bure, the Panthers were without forwards Scott Mellanby and Peter Worrell. Mellanby suffered a concussion in Montreal, while Worrell has been out all season with a sprained knee.
Replacing Sundin on the roster was 19-year-old Kazakhstan native Nikolai Antropov, who had one assist on a line with Mike Johnson and Todd Warriner.
Monday October 11, 1999 Nashville at Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Nashville Predators, and lost their captain in the process.
The Predators scored four times in the third period for a 4-2 victory Monday night over the Maple Leafs, who learned before the game that Mats Sundin will miss six weeks with a broken right ankle.
Sundin was injured in Saturday's loss at Ottawa when he took a shot off the ankle. At first it was thought to be a bruise, but X-rays Monday revealed the break.
"It's a big loss," linemate Steve Thomas said.
Rookie David Legwand broke a 2-2 tie with his first NHL goal with 1:03 left in the third period.
"It's a big goal to get," said Legwand, the Predators' first pick, second overall, in the 1998 entry draft. "It came at a good time to get our first win. Hopefully, there will be many more."
Robert Valicevic added an insurance goal with 45 seconds left to help the Predators win their first game of the season.
Vitali Yachmenev, who also had an assist, and Drake Berehowsky also scored for Nashville.
Jonas Hoglund and Mike Johnson scored for Toronto, which outshot Nashville 39-25.
"Their goalie was very strong," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "(And) that Legwand made a heck of play to score. It was one of those games you shouldn't lose, but we did."
Todd Warriner filled in for Sundin on the top line, centering Hoglund and Thomas.
"I didn't feel that good (at center) to be honest with you," said Warriner, who has been on the wing this season. "I haven't played centre in a while, but it'll get better. (However) there are other guys who could fill that job, too."
Quinn said he plans to call up Nikolai Antropov, the Leafs' 1998 first-round draft pick, from St. John's of the AHL.
"We may as well give him a try," said Quinn, who also didn't rule out a trade to fill the hole. "He played a lot with Thomas (in preseason), so that may be a real possibility."
Mike Dunham made 37 saves for Nashville, while Glenn Healy stopped 21 of 25 shots for Toronto.
Saturday October 9, 1999 Toronto at Ottawa
Radek Bonk is doing his best to make up for the absence of holdout Alexei Yashin.
Bonk scored a power-play goal and assisted on defenseman Wade Redden's winning goal in the Ottawa Senators' 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
"I'm happy to be able to help the team win some games. It's the best start of my career," said Bonk, whose three goals and four assists have helped the Senators set a club record with a 4-0-0 start.
"We're great as a team, working hard. Alexei was our best player, so everybody has to step up their game."
Yashin, who had 44 goals and 94 points last season, has one year remaining on his contract at $3.6 million. He has asked for an extension of $11 million for next season and $12 million in 2001-02.
While Yashin sits out, Bonk has become the team's top scoring threat.
"What we're seeing has been developing over time," Ottawa assistant coach Perry Pearn said. "He got much better last year and has picked up where he left off. It's all about confidence."
Daniel Alfredsson and Andre Roy, with his first NHL goal, also scored for Ottawa.
Jonas Hoglund, Sergei Berezin and Todd Warriner scored for Toronto, which was outshot 50-23 before a sellout crowd of 18,500 at the Corel Centre.
"There was no space out there. Ottawa was in our face all night," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "We were embarrassed. I don't know about embarrassed, but we were beaten in all phases of the game. We played a lousy game."
The last time the teams met, last April 8, Ottawa won 3-1 at home to clinch the Northeast Division title.
The Leafs have yet to win at the Corel Centre and have not won in their last six visits to Ottawa, dating to a 4-1 victory at the Ottawa Civic Centre on Feb. 28, 1994.
The Leafs failed in their 20th straight attempt to win four consecutive games, also going back to February 1994.
"We battled back, but it didn't happen," said Leafs center Alyn McCauley, playing his first game since March 3 because of concussion symptoms.
Bonk opened the scoring on a power play 11:19 into the game.
The Leafs had not allowed more than 26 shots in a game this season, but the Senators took the first seven shots and held a 14-2 advantage eight minutes in. Ottawa tied a team single-period record by outshooting Toronto 22-5. in the period.
"The way we were moving the puck gave us momentum," Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. "We had great scoring chances from all of our lines."
Hoglund responded for the Maple Leafs with his third goal of the season 35 seconds into the second period when an innocent-looking shot trickled between the pads of goaltender Ron Tugnutt.
Alfredsson gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 8:52, converting Vaclav Prospal's pass from the corner for his third goal of the season.
"Bonk's whole line (with Marian Hossa and Magnus Arvedson) has been our best for the first four games," Alfredsson said. "They're taking care of their own end while playing against the other team's top line."
Roy took a drop pass from Shaun Van Allen and ripped a low shot past Joseph to give Ottawa a 3-1 lead at 11:36.
Berezin bounced a shot in off Tugnutt 5:24 into the third period and Warriner tied the game 3-3 at 7:48. But then Redden struck for the eventual game-winner just over a minute later as the Senators improved their league-leading power play to 7-for-16.
"I almost had too much time," Redden said. "But we never thought we had it in the bag."
Referee Mick McGeough disallowed a goal by Toronto's Garry Valk at 12:19 because of a hand pass.
"They forecheck really well," said Joseph, who made 46 saves. "They came out hard and we can definitely learn from that."
Wednesday October 6, 1999 Colorado at Toronto
Mats Sundin is off to an outstanding start this season, and he credits his offseason workouts. Sundin, who has three goals and three assists in Toronto's three games, set up the Maple Leafs' first goal and then scored the eventual game-winner in a 2-1 victory Wednesday night over the Colorado Avalanche.
"I'd been trying to put more muscle on, trying to play a little heavier other years," said Sundin, who concentrated on aerobics last summer in an effort to drop some of his 224 pounds.
"I'm probably eight pounds lighter now than when I started last season. It's quite a difference. I feel it when I'm skating. I feel better out there."
With the score tied 1-1, Sundin got the winner at 10:44 of the third. After Dan Hinote was called for high-sticking, Steve Thomas passed to Sundin, who got the shot past Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy.
"Steve made a great play," Sundin said. "He hung onto the puck and waited for me because I was really late getting into the zone. He put the puck right on my tape."
Toronto, which scored both goals on the power play, took a 1-0 lead at 11:36 of the second period as Colorado's Joe Sakic sat out after an interference penalty. Sundin fired a wrist shot that caromed in off Jonas Hoglund's leg, and Roy couldn't get to it through traffic in front of the net. Referee Bill McCreary signaled a goal, and Roy followed him to the scorer's booth to protest.
"Two power-play goals for Toronto was the difference," Colorado coach Bob Hartley said. "With Joseph and Roy in goal, you knew there would be good goaltending and not a lot of goals scored."
Sakic tied it on a wrist shot at 16:53 of the second period. Claude Lemieux slipped the puck to rookie Alex Tanguay, who passed it to Sakic in the faceoff circle. Sakic lifted a shot through the legs of Toronto defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev and into the far top corner of the net.
The Avalanche were without defenseman Adam Foote for the last 10 minutes. McCreary gave Foote a 10-minute misconduct then a game misconduct for arguing after Foote and the Leafs' Yanic Perreault were assessed coincidental high-sticking penalties.
Joseph, who stopped 23 shots, made an exceptional glove save with 40 seconds left by robbing Sandis Ozolinsh's shot.
"He doesn't give you a lot," Sakic said. "He makes the great saves when it matters most."
Roy made 26 saves for the Avalanche, who are without injured forwards Peter Forsberg, Shjon Podein and Adam Deadmarsh.
"It was a struggle," Sundin said. "It was a good test for us, to win a game where we didn't really have anything going for us at times.
Monday October 4, 1999 Boston at Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs have picked up where they left off last season.
Curtis Joseph posted his 23rd career shutout and the Maple Leafs got goals from four players to win their home opener, 4-0 over the Boston Bruins on Monday night.
Mats Sundin, Igor Korolev, Mike Johnson and Todd Warriner scored for the Maple Leafs, who improved to 2-0 after their season-opening win over Montreal on Saturday.
The Leafs, who made a surprising run to the Eastern Conference finals last season, aren't surprised by their quick start this year.
"The key was to keep the nucleus," Joseph said. "A lot of teams haven't been able to sign everybody so I feel that by almost getting everybody signed, minus Dimitri Yushkevich, we may have an advantage."
Joseph, who gave up only one goal to the Canadiens, made 21 saves to blank the Bruins.
"It was one of those nights where (the puck) wasn't going to go in," Joseph said. "One goal against in two games -- that's nice. A lot of the credit goes to the guys in front of me. They're letting me see the puck and clearing out rebounds. It just looks like we have a lot of confidence right now."
The Bruins, who lost their opener to Carolina, fell to 0-2.
The Maple Leafs took a 3-0 lead after one period on goals by Sundin, Korolev and Johnson.
Sundin pushed in his own rebound two minutes into the game, Korolev poked in a rebound at 17:36, and Johnson scored on a slap shot off a pass from Yanic Perreault at 18:18.
The Leafs outshot the Bruins 16-3 in the first period, and 34-21 for the game.
"We started out quick again," Joseph said. "The key for us is to get a lead and play with it, and we did that again."
Toronto made it 4-0 in the second period when Warriner deflected in Bryan Berard's shot at 12:18.
"That's six periods of hockey and our forwards don't have a goal," said Boston coach Pat Burns. "We didn't look like a Boston Bruins team."
Toronto won 75 percent of the faceoffs, partly because Boston's Jason Allison couldn't take any draws because of a sore hand.
"We expected a tough game so we were prepared," Warriner said. "They'll be a different team next time around."
Boston goalie John Grahame made 30 saves in his first NHL start.
The Bruins' No. 1 goalie, Byron Dafoe, is unsigned, so Grahame and Robbie Tallas will alternate until Dafoe returns. Tallas was in goal for Boston's season-opening loss against Carolina.
Saturday October 2, 1999 Toronto at Montreal
The Toronto Maple Leafs have not abandoned speed and offense as their recipe for success.
"I don't see why we'd change it," captain Mats Sundin said after his goal and two assists led the Maple Leafs to a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in the season opener for the NHL's two oldest clubs on Saturday night.
"We had a lot of success with that offensive style last year. It's the type of game we love to play. We have a lot of good skaters and we like to move the puck."
Sundin scored a short-handed goal at 6:05 of the first period and saw his rebound converted by former Canadien Jonas Hoglund at 17:13 of the second period.
Martin Rucinsky put Montreal back in the game with a goal 7:02 into the third period, but Tomas Kaberle's shot from a bad angle went in off goaltender Jeff Hackett's arm at 10:23 to end the suspense.
Sergei Berezin added an insurance goal with 30 seconds to play.
"Everybody's psyched," added Sundin, whose team led the NHL with 268 goals last season en route to a 45-30-7 record. "I could tell in the last few days that everybody's confident."
Hundreds of Toronto supporters were among the full house of 21,273 at the Molson Centre as the Canadiens opened their 90th season showing the same lack of finish that caused them to miss the playoffs last season.
The Maple Leafs outshot Montreal 29-26 in an end-to-end match with multiple scoring chances for both teams.
"We made some mistakes in the defensive zone and every time, they got a goal," Saku Koivu said after his first game since being named as the 27th captain of the Canadiens. "We had great chances in the second period on the power play and didn't score, but then they came right back and got one.
"That was a tough one for us."
Sundin poked the puck by defenseman Barry Richter at the blue line during a first-period Montreal man advantage and went in alone to deke Hackett and open the scoring.
In the second, Steve Thomas fed Sundin in front for a quick shot. The rebound went to an uncovered Hoglund, who lifted the puck into an open side.
Hoglund was let go by Montreal and picked up as a free agent by Toronto during the summer. He started the season on the Maple Leafs' top line despite failing to score in the preseason.
"I told him he was saving it for when it counts," Sundin said of his Swedish compatriot. "That should help his confidence."
"If I'm going to play with these guys, that's the kind of goals I'm going to get," Hoglund added. "I'll go to the net and whack at the rebounds."
Trevor Linden, in his first game for Montreal, slid a pass across the crease for Rucinsky to push into an open side in the third period but Kaberle got it back for the harmless-looking shot that fooled Hackett.
"It was a bad goal and I take responsibility for it," Hackett said. "The positive thing is that we had chances. That's just the way the sport is."