NEWS OF MAPLE LEAFS
Last Update: Monday May 17, 1999 12:11AM EST
Sunday May 16, 1999 T.O. in cruise control
Dimitri Yushkevich proved an expert at math, science and languages as the Maple Leafs pushed Jaromir Jagr and the Pittsburgh Penguins to the brink of summer vacation.
The first star of last night's 4-1 win had studied for hours before the crucial Game 5 at Air Canada Centre.
"It's been lose one, win one for us (in the playoffs) and mathematically, we may lose a Game 7," the defenceman said. "So tonight we wanted to take advantage of home ice.
"Jagr might be injured, but to me he's as healthy as a horse. I try to play against him like he's any other guy, but also keep in mind he's the best player in the world. He's a very strong guy and if I get involved physically with him in the neutral zone, I could lose body position on him and then lose everything. I try to move him to the middle."
The Leafs now have a chance to win the series tomorrow night at the Igloo and continue the trend that saw six of eight first-round matchups won on enemy ice.
Jagr started this series with a groin strain, but he and the Pens might finish it with a huge pain in the butt. A revamped Leafs lineup, with Kevyn Adams and Ladislav Kohn making their NHL playoff debuts, was snapping at their heels last night.
Frustration was evident, particularly with Jagr after his solid solo efforts came up short. He chucked his stick into the penalty box after taking a retaliation penalty on Yushkevich late in the first period. Yushkevich has been getting under his skin big-time the past couple of games and ended the night by chasing down the NHL's leading scorer to avert a breakaway.
"They were better from the first minute," Jagr said.
When Jagr was shut out in Game 1, a 2-0 Pens win, his lack of offence wasn't missed as Pittsburgh bottled up the Leafs. But he was blanked last night, and the lunch-bucket Pens appeared to have little left in the tank after the Game 4 overtime loss to make up for it.
"We took away the walls and got some cycles going," third star Garry Valk said. "It's amazing what happens when you dump the puck in."
As they did against the Flyers, the Leafs have won a huge Game 5 after sluggish starts in each series.
"We were really excited with our last game and we wanted to carry it into tonight," Valk said of the towel-waving reception the Leafs received from 18,800. "We worked 82 games for home ice, so we should use it."
Jagr spent much of last evening jousting and jawing with the prickly Yushkevich, while Pens goaltender Tom Barrasso was clearly distracted by Leafs in his face as well. He surrendered two goals on the first three Toronto shots.
Fights -- a playoff rarity -- broke out on two fronts with Kris King pounding on Pittsburgh yahoo Matthew Barnaby, and Kohn showing a mean side against Tyler Wright.
"The talk with (Jagr and Yushkevich) looked like it was one-sided," eavesdropper Curtis Joseph said.
"Dimitri was doing a good job on him and didn't have to say a lot."
Jagr hit two posts on Joseph early on to add to his frustrations, but the Leafs stopper was worth his weight in gold -- again -- in the second period.
Right after Adams accidentally deflected a Jan Hrdina pass into the Leafs net, Joseph stared down Hrdina on a partial breakaway that would have cut the lead to one.
After scoring just nine goals in the first seven games of the post-season, the Leafs' shooting confidence appears to be back. They've scored 14 times in the past four outings.
Sergei Berezin's third-period capper supported two screen-aided goals by Sylvain Cote and Mike Johnson, and the best of the night -- a Steve Thomas snap shot off a feed that Lonny Bohonos threaded through four Penguins.
The Leafs also survived two Pitt power plays and improved to 7-0 in the playoffs when they kill all chances. The Leafs made use of their St. John's army by activating Kohn and Adams, who joined Bohonos and Adam Mair in the lineup.
"It's a great opportunity for all of us," Mair said.
Saturday May 15, 1999 Stingy Leafs defence praised
Often criticized and seldom praised, the Maple Leafs defence corps quietly has asserted itself as an important cog in the team's playoff success.
Curtis Joseph's spectacular play in goal and the offence's knack for scoring timely goals have been well-worn storylines during the Leafs' surprise regular season run, and throughout the playoffs.
But toss a few kudos toward the defence.
Its stingy nature in the playoffs has been a pleasant surprise for coach Pat Quinn.
"I think our defence has been very good," Quinn said yesterday. "The reason I think it has been terrific is, in the Philadelphia series, we didn't face that sort of checking much of the year. But (we) responded even though our guys were used to getting back there, turning around and getting started."
Getting started up ice with the perfect first pass from deep in its own zone was a big reason the Leafs' high-flying offence scored a league-leading 268 goals this season.
But once the playoffs started, the Leafs defencemen had to absorb a pounding from the hefty Flyers forwards. The Penguins forwards, however, have employed more of a finesse game.
"To make the switch back again, we needed a period of adjustment. But we're much better," Quinn said.
The Penguins have done a good job of taking away the Leafs' puck-side outlet pass, but Quinn is confident his defence will adjust. The pairing of Bryan Berard and Alexander Karpovtsev has had a shaky series against Pittsburgh -- both are minus-four in the series -- but Dimitri Yushkevich and Daniil Markov have been solid against Jaromir Jagr's line, and the Tomas Kaberle-Sylvain Cote pairing has been steady. The defencemen might be coming off their best game, as the Penguins were held to just 14 shots on goal on Thursday. "In this series our defence, as a group, has been pretty good," Leafs associate GM Michael Smith said.
Saturday May 15, 1999 Home ice not so nice
The Maple Leafs, like many slow-witted NHL teams this spring, keep locking themselves out of the house.
In 60 NHL playoff games played this spring, home teams have a shabby 28-32 record, with Toronto doing its part to defy the percentages on the road with a Game 4 overtime triumph in Pittsburgh, on top of two wins in Philly that decided the previous series. Conversely, Toronto was shut out of both series openers at the Air Canada Centre.
But if having home-ice advantage in the spring is a big reason teams toil 82 games in fall and winter, why not utilize it? As the Leafs play host to Game 5 of their series with the Penguins tonight -- "the most important game of our season" in coach Pat Quinn's opinion -- just who has the edge at 40 Bay St.?
"There's still a mythology about home ice," club president Ken Dryden said of the winds of change he has witnessed since his glory days with the perennial-champion Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s. "There is still this statistic that home ice really matters, even though that really wasn't the case with teams such as ours in the regular season.
"You arrive home after last night and think the answer is here; that there'll be some natural flow. But it doesn't work that way."
Dryden agreed with the assessment that the construction of so many new arenas this decade -- 19 including the new expansion team in Atlanta and the coming Staples Center in L.A. -- have dissolved some of the fear factor that used to make the Gardens, Forum, Chicago Stadium and Boston Garden so unique.
"Not one ice surface is egg-shaped any more; none has tricky boards," Dryden said. "So many people stare at the video scoreboard during the game that there's less time to be abusive to the visitors. If you go back to Madison Square Garden or the (Philadelphia) Spectrum, they spent a lot of time abusing you to the point where they wore you down."
Quinn, who made another prediction that the Air Canada Centre crowd would come into play tonight, is sure you can still make a building work for you.
"The crowd makes the building; the building itself is just bricks and mortar," Quinn said.
Whatever the case, the Leafs have home ice twice in what's now a best-of-three series. They keep groping to play "their game" -- an Ice Capades hybrid that produced a league-best 268 goals in the regular season. Yet they have shown they can play the ugly hockey so often associated with this time of year.
Friday May 14, 1999 Extra special!:
Berezin nets Leafs huge overtime win against Penguins
Overtime has been as comfortable for the Maple Leafs as pulling on an old sweater.
And that extra period continued to be a safe haven as the Leafs last night pulled out another OT win, 3-2 against the Penguins to knot the Eastern Conference semi-final at 2-2.
Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is at the Air Canada Centre tomorrow.
Leafs sniper Sergei Berezin played hero once again. The Russian, who clinched the first-round series win against the Flyers a dozen days ago, tapped in a loose puck at 2:18 of overtime.
It was the second playoff overtime win for the Leafs after going 6-1-7 in extra-period games during the season.
Last night's game-winning play developed when Tomas Kaberle's shot from the blue line was tipped by Garry Valk, enabling the puck to sneak underneath Penguins goalie Tom Barrasso.
Penguins defenders Greg Andrusak and Jan Hrdina went after Valk, leaving Berezin wide open after he eluded Pittsburgh's Bobby Dollas in the corner. Berezin emerged wide-eyed as the puck laid in the crease behind Barrasso.
"I went to the net and the puck was waiting for me. Even my son wouldn't miss that shot," said Berezin, who reached the 40-goal mark (37 in the season and three in the playoffs).
"It was like a dream come true.
"We knew this was a very important game. It wasn't easy."
It was the first NHL overtime playoff winner for Berezin, who had grazed the post moments before, and the first points for the Berezin-Valk-Yanic Perreault line during the series.
"We haven't got many scoring chances," Berezin said. "Hopefully, this will change things. It has been so tight-checking."
The goal spoiled a strong game by Barrasso, whose team disappeared for the final six minutes of the second period and failed to muster a chance until Brad Werenka tied the game 2-2 at 7:10 of the third period.
The Leafs outshot Pittsburgh 24-9 during the final two periods and overtime and, in total, 30-14.
"It was a harmless play," Barrasso said of the overtime winner.
The line of Mats Sundin, Steve Thomas and Lonny Bohonos certainly was not harmless.
The trio combined for a second-period goal to tie the game 1-1 and again for the go-ahead goal early in the third period.
Captain Sundin scored the Leafs' first goal and Bohonos the second. Since being grouped for Game 2, the line has combined for 14 points, including six last night.
Although Bohonos left Jiri Slegr uncovered for Pittsburgh's winning goal in Game 3, Quinn likes what he has added to that line.
"He is a creative guy and that's Lonny's strength," Quinn said. "Certainly at the minor-league level, he has been a top offensive player for years. He has the skills that, at least in our past three games, have come together with Mats pretty well."
Jaromir Jagr scored in the first period, the seventh time in 10 games the Leafs have given up the opening goal.
Werenka scored 1:42 after Bohonos' go-ahead goal.
"The most important time of the game is after a goal or late in the period," Sundin said. "But it was encouraging to see us come back and win even though that had happened."
Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph wasn't overworked, but he was sharp -- especially midway through the second period when he stopped a Jagr breakaway and Matthew Barnaby on the doorstep.
The Penguins were without three regulars, including two-thirds of the second line -- Alexei Kovalev (bruised foot) and German Titov (back spasms). Also missing was Aleksey Morozov (flu). In a surprise move, Quinn scratched Tie Domi after the pre-game warmup in favour of Fredrik Modin, who was a healthy scratch the previous two games.
Friday May 14, 1999 Domi toes party line
Tie Domi is a disappointed hockey player, but not one to cause dissension in the Toronto Maple Leafs' dressing room in the middle of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Domi, still upset about taking the pre-game lineup then being deleted from the lineup before a 3-2 overtime victory Thursday night in Pittsburgh that evened the NHL Eastern Conference semifinal at two wins each, skated with the scrubs Friday while the rest of his teammates enjoyed a day off.
He held his ego in check afterwards.
"We won and that's all that matters," he said.
Coach Pat Quinn said he scratched Domi because the veteran fourth-line forward is injured. During the first-round elimination of the Philadelphia Flyers, Domi was said to have a slight groin pull. But he hadn't missed any games and fully expected to skate in Game 4 against the Penguins.
"I'm not 100 per cent," Domi said in toeing the party line Friday, adding he's unsure if he'll be in the lineup for Game 5 tonight (7:30 p.m. EDT, CBC). "I feel better.
"We'll see."
Domi sat in the dressing room watching Game 4 on TV and fiddling with a crossword puzzle.
"It was tough not to be part of it," he said. "After all these years not being in the playoffs and being in the playoffs now, not being part of a big game . . . I've been battling my whole career and that was a pretty tough one to swallow.
"But it was for the better of the team, obviously, because I'm not 100 per cent so I'll just take it as it comes.
"We won the game and that's the bottom line."
It was a touchy subject to Quinn, who had a one-word retort when asked if he was worried Domi's obvious disappointment would create dissension.
"No," he icily replied.
Egos must be put aside in favour of team goals, he suggested.
"We're here to do one thing and that's to win this series," Quinn said. "It's my job to make the decisions."
Domi has been largely ineffective in the playoffs. A racism charge by Philadelphia's Sandy McCarthy, which Domi denied, drained him emotionally. Quinn has warned Domi to stay out of the post-season penalty box, and used him for only about six minutes a game against the Penguins before yanking him Thursday in favour of first-line castoff Freddie Modin. If Domi isn't going to fight, his usefulness -- healthy or not -- comes into question when more skilled players are available to the coach.
Also, Quinn does not perceive the Pittsburgh series to be one requiring a lot of muscle. This is why he is not using six-foot-seven defenceman Chris McAllister, who was impressive in the elimination of the Flyers. The more docile but speedier Tomas Kaberle took McAllister's place against the Penguins. McAllister has been told not to expect to get to dance with Jaromir Jagr.
"This series is a little big different from the Philadelphia series," McAllister replied when asked when fans would see him reappear. "(The Penguins) don't really have a physical presence on their team.
"They're not a big, physical team. I just have to rest for this series and once we get past this one I'll play against either Buffalo or Boston, I'm hoping."
Meanwhile, centre Steve Sullivan continues to receive treatment for back spasms.
"I'm getting better every day," Sullivan said Friday. "But I don't know how long it's going to take to be in game shape."
He was uncertain if he'd play Game 5.
"That I don't know," he said. "We'll see how I feel and how the coaches feel about putting me in the lineup.
"It'll be a coach's and trainer's decision. But it's got progressively better. That's the good thing."
Said Quinn: "If he's ready, he'll be back in."
Game 6 is Monday night in Pittsburgh. The teams would return to the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday if a Game 7 is required.
"It's 2-out-of-3 now and we have the home-ice advantage, but they've shown they can play well here," said right-winger Mike Johnson, who said he dropped by the dressing room Friday because he had nothing else to do.
"I'm not sure it comes into play but our crowd will be wired up so maybe that will give us a lift," Quinn said of the home-ice factor.
The Penguins won Game 1 on the road.
"It takes the pressure off us playing up there," said forward Matthew Barnaby.
The status of injured Penguins Alexei Kovalev (sprained foot) and German Titov (back spasms) remains uncertain. Without them, coach Kevin Constantine relied heavily on Jagr, Martin Straka and Kevin Hatcher. The Penguins looked worn down by the time the overtime period began.
"I can't speak for our whole team but I don't think we were tired," Barnaby insisted. Avoiding penalties remains a must for the Leafs. Pittsburgh's power play is operating at 17 per cent efficiency in the playoffs compared to Toronto's 12.5 per cent success rate . . . Sergei Berezin, who scored the overtime winner Thursday, has taken a team-high 37 shots in 10 playoff games . . . Defenceman Daniil Markov is Toronto's plus-minus leader at plus five. Bryan Berard is minus eight.
Wednesday May 12, 1999 Leafs fans roughed up in Pittsburgh
At least two groups of Toronto supporters had to be escorted from Civic Arena under guard Tuesday night after they were verbally and physically assaulted by Penguins fans.
The cheering towels handed out by the team were used to hit the Canadians about the head. When Toronto marketing consultant Allen Spencer objected, he was punched in the face.
The locals poured beer on his wife and daughter and subjected them to verbal abuse. The family was wearing Leafs shirts, but Spencer said their only crime was good-natured cheering.
He refused to press charges and even offered to have the fan return to his seat, but a police officer refused to let the man stay in the arena.
And Brampton, Ont., sales rep Shawn Klerer said he and his three friends were roughed up and insulted.
Klerer, a father of two, and his friends cheered the Leafs' goals but became less vocal as the game wore on and people began to shout at them.
"We were not taunting anybody, that would have been suicide. The staff didn't really do too much," he told the Toronto Sun.
Several people spit on their Leafs jerseys in the parking lot; they retreated to the arena and two guards escorted them back to the car.
Wednesday May 12, 1999 Phantom goal wasn't the cause of death
There is often a fine line between winning and losing in the playoffs.
And the Maple Leafs still don't think the puck has crossed it.
But they aren't about to dwell on the phantom goal, as they have taken to calling it, the one the Pittsburgh Penguins scored the other night en route to a 4-3 win in Game 3 of this Eastern Conference semi-final.
Except, of course, the Leafs were dwelling on it yesterday. At least coach Pat Quinn was and he tip-toed along that other fine line the NHL regularly reviews, the one that divides fair comment from a big, fat fine.
But the Leafs insist they will not allow it to become a distraction or, worse still, an excuse for what may yet transpire in what has become a thoroughly entertaining series. But that part remains to be seen, of whether they can put the phantom goal further behind them than it got behind goaltender Curtis Joseph, of whether they can get over the conspiracy theories and go about tying the series tonight.
"This is just one of the speed bumps you have to face," goaltender Glenn Healy said. "There's always adversity in the playoffs, but it's just one of those things that is out of your control. We don't make the decisions on goals. It's not up to us to fix the NHL's system for reviewing goals."
No, it's the Leafs' responsibility to stop the goals from being scored, even if there wasn't actually a goal scored in this case. When it was all said and done the other night, the goal Kevin Hatcher scored that the Leafs maintain wasn't a goal and the video replay judge couldn't confirm was a goal but referee Kerry Fraser and a goal judge from Chicago insisted was a goal, really became moot.
Yes, in the end the difference was just one goal. But the Penguins were credited with four of them on the night and the real difference was the two goals they scored in the span of 100 seconds in the final period that erased the Leafs' third lead and turned it into an agonizing defeat.
"Are you nuts?" Quinn asked, when it was put to him yesterday by a television interviewer, who is now hoping for anonymity, that perhaps they were making too much of the phantom goal.
Upon further review, the guy isn't nuts. At least there's no conclusive evidence. The goal/non-goal obviously was a factor. In the opinion of Quinn, it also was a disgrace, the result of a lack of accountability given to all parties involved and the explanation for what happened, he said, was fabricated.
Whatever, at the time the Leafs already had one goal overturned by the video goal judge, they scored another and had they led 2-0 instead of being tied 1-1, well, things might have been different.
But the fact remains the Leafs had three leads disappear, including a 3-2 lead with roughly 11 minutes remaining in the game, that one eliminated by a couple of missed checking assignments and a poor choice of line matchups by Quinn.
So, just like Ed Snider and his Flyers whined about the non-penalty call late in Game 6 of the first round that led to the Leafs' series-winning goal, yes, it was crucial, but it wasn't the actual cause of death. There were defensive-zone breakdowns, the power play was 0-for-4 with one shot, there were two power-play goals against, the Penguins defence scored three very similar goals, and there was Jaromir Jagr using one of his acupuncture needles to burst Joseph's and the Leafs' bubble. So there's no need to call in the coroner.
Ironically, though, the only other time the Leafs blew a third-period and lost a game was back in March in New York, a 3-2 overtime loss to the Rangers, when the Leafs were upset the referee didn't invite the video goal judge to rule on the winning goal. Then there was the night in Washington at the MCI Center, of all places, when they couldn't get the phone to work to review a goal.
"We didn't even mention it (to the players)," Quinn said of the video games in Game 3. "What's gone is gone. We can't change what happened."
That's sound thinking, too, because if the Leafs waste away the hours between games thinking back on what happened Tuesday, they'll forget what has to be done today. So the coaching staff convened a meeting to stress the positives, like the fact their offence has produced seven goals in the past two games, that they otherwise played a pretty decent game, that one win brings back home-ice advantage, and maybe even that they have seen the last of Fraser, at least until the next round, or next season, whichever comes first.
"I thought we played pretty well," Joseph said. "It could have gone either way. But (today) is another day, another game. It's like a bad golf shot. You forget about it. If you make three pars in a row, you forget about the bad shot you made on the first hole."
Of course, unless the Leafs win tonight, pretty soon the only fine line they'll be concerned with is the one they use to size up their putts.
Wednesday May 12, 1999 King and Johnson catch Quinn's drift
Mike Johnson and Derek King were trashed by their coach in the morning but refused to become garbage in the evening.
Thus go the peaks and valleys of players' lives during the NHL playoffs.
Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn was unhappy with the play of Johnson and King. He said Tuesday that not only were the two 20-goal forwards not chipping in with points, they weren't even digging up any chances.
Hours later, Johnson and King set each other up for goals as the Leafs lost 4-3 to the Penguins in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semi-final. Pittsburgh leads the series 2-1.
"It has been a long time since we had a game like (Tuesday)," Johnson said. "We were on the puck the whole game, created some chances and actually put a couple in.
"You know yourself when things aren't going well, but we have a good group of guys and no one is going to get down on you. You learn to work through it, not for yourself but for your teammates."
Johnson and King have been on the same line all season and that has brought them together off the ice and in the dressing room.
So, through the tough times during the playoffs, they have encouraged each other and kept a light approach during this intense time of the year.
"Everybody is different, but for me and Johnnie (keeping it light) was the best medicine," King said. "We wanted to have a little fun of it, even though we didn't like what the situation was. We needed to relax and keep a smile on our faces."
What kept a semi-smile on Quinn's puss was the the duo's work in the defensive zone. Johnson also has been a valuable part of the Leafs' penalty-killing unit.
But what kicked Johnson and King into high gear on Tuesday? With their usual centre, Steve Sullivan, on the shelf with a mid-back strain, how much did his replacement, Todd Warriner, mean to the line?
"We played with him a little bit when Alyn (McCauley) first got hurt and the three of us played well," Johnson said. "He complements our down-low, cycle-the-puck game."