| OTTAWA (TICKER) -- The Ottawa Senators played shorthanded Saturday
night, but it was their power play that sent the Toronto Maple Leafs limping
into the playoffs.
The Senators, playing with just 15 skaters because of injuries to nine
regulars, struck for three first-period power-play goals en route to a
5-3 win over the Leafs in a possible Eastern Conference first-round playoff
preview.
Defenseman Wade
Redden had two goals and an assist, and goaltender Patrick
Lalime stopped 35 shots to give Ottawa (48-21-9-4) its second win in
as many nights in the final regular-season game for both teams, played
before a fifth consecutive sellout crowd of 18,500 at the Corel Centre.
``We got behind early,'' said Leafs coach Pat Quinn, who now has to
await the outcome of Sunday's Carolina-Pittsburgh matchup to see whether
or not his team will face the Senators or the New Jersey Devils in the
first round.
``It's certainly not the kind of game I thought (the Senators would)
get out of us.''
With the Devils' 2-0 win over Montreal on Saturday, they finished first
overall in the conference and the Senators second. A Carolina win would
drop the Leafs from the seventh spot into eighth and a date with New Jersey.
Alexei
Yashin had a goal and an assist to reach the 40-goal mark for the second
time in his career. Andreas
Dackell and Jamie
Rivers also scored for the Senators, who swept the season series with
the Leafs 5-0 and improved to 9-1-1 in the last 11 meetings between the
teams.
Shawn
McEachern added two assists.
``The guys had a gusty effort to play hard like that being shorthanded
...,'' said Redden, who opened the scoring and added his second late in
the game for insurance. ``It was a big game. Patty was there for us again,
stopping a lot of shots.''
Sergei Berezin had two goals and an assist for Toronto (37-29-11-5),
which had its two-game win string snapped.
Yanic Perreault added a goal and two assists and Nik Antropov had three
assists, while Curtis Joseph finished with 29 saves in goal.
``Tonight, we created some scoring chances, but unfortunately we came
up short,'' said Perreault.
The Senators were forced to dress just 15 skaters after three call-ups
from Grand Rapids of the IHL couldn't arrive in time because of flight
delays.
That didn't matter as they took a 2-0 lead on goals by Redden and Dackell
58 seconds apart after Shayne Corson took a double-minor for high-sticking
and a charging call with the Senators already on a power play.
``They started really good and our problem was we took some penalties,''
said Joseph. ``One (goal) was a great play and one was a lucky bounce.''
Toronto tied the game with a pair of power-play goals of their own.
Perreault banged in a rebound at 10:32 and Berezin converted a goal-mouth
pass at 14:42.
But Rivers and Yashin scored late in the period to restore the two-goal
lead.
``We played shorthanded for a while in the first, we battled back, but
we still found a way to give them the lead back,'' said Leafs captain Mats
Sundin.
Ottawa finished 3-for-8 on the power play; Toronto went 2-for-5.
``I think we showed how desperate we were,'' said Lalime. ``We battled
pretty hard.''
Note: Toronto defenseman Danny Markov played in his 200th NHL game
-----------------------------
Toronto 2 1 0--3
Ottawa 4 0 1--5
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Ottawa, Redden 9 (power play) (Mceachern,
Rachunek), 8:51. 2, Ottawa, Dackell 13 (power play) (White, York), 9:49.
3, Toronto, Perreault 24 (power play) (S Berezin, Antropov), 10:32. 4,
Toronto, S Berezin 21 (power play) (Perreault, Antropov), 14:42. 5,
Ottawa, Rivers 2 (Yashin, Hossa), 15:31. 6, Ottawa, Yashin 40 (power play)
(Redden, Mceachern), 17:54. Penalties: Tucker, Tor (goalie interference),
4:33; Corson, Tor ( double high sticking minor, roughing), 6:10; Fisher,
Ott (holding stick), 10:19; Rachunek, Ott (holding), 10:58; Rachunek, Ott
(boarding), 14:04; Domi, Tor (interference), 16:25; White, Ott
(unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:25; Perreault, Tor (tripping), 17:27.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 7, Toronto, S Berezin 22 (Perreault,
Antropov), 14:19. Penalties: Rachunek, Ott (cross checking), 5:42; B
Mccabe, Tor (holding), 18:00.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 8, Ottawa, Redden 10 (Sillinger, Zamuner),
4:25. Penalties: Rivers, Ott (tripping), 8:04; Antropov, Tor (holding),
13:29; G Roberts, Tor (unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct), 15:33;
Rachunek, Ott ( double roughing minor), 15:46; Manson, Tor (roughing),
15:46; S Berezin, Tor (roughing), 15:46.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Toronto 11 17 10--38
Ottawa 14 9 11--34
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Tor - 2 of 5, Ott - 3 of 8. Goalies: Toronto,
Joseph (34 shots, 29 saves; record: 33-27-8). Ottawa, Lalime (38, 35;
record: 36-19-5). A:18,500. Referees: Shick, P Devorski. Linesmen:
Gauthier, Kovachik.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Toronto Ottawa
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
A Berg 0 0 +1 1 Dackell 1 0 even 3
A Mccauley 0 0 even 2 Fisher 0 0 -1 3
Antropov 0 3 +1 1
B Mccabe 0 0 even 3 Hossa 0 1 even 4
Corson 0 0 even 3
Di Yushkevich 0 0 -2 0 Kwiatkowski 0 0 even 0
Domi 0 0 even 1 Lacroix 0 0 even 3
G Roberts 0 0 even 1 Mceachern 0 2 even 1
Hoglund 0 0 -2 2
Kaberle 0 0 even 2 Rachunek 0 1 +1 4
Korolev 0 0 even 1 Redden 2 1 +1 6
Manson 0 0 +1 1 Rivers 1 0 even 3
Markov 0 0 -2 1
Perreault 1 2 +1 4 Sillinger 0 1 +1 2
S Berezin 2 1 +1 5 White 0 1 +1 0
Sundin 0 0 -2 6 Yashin 1 1 +1 4
Thomas 0 0 -1 4 York 0 1 even 1
Tucker 0 0 -1 0 Zamuner 0 1 +1 0
Valk Eye Injury Alfredsson Wrist Injury
Cross Healthy Arvedson Groin
Bonk Thumb Injury
Havlat Groin
Hnidy Groin
Leschyshyn Concussion
Persson Concussion
Phillips Shoulder
Salo Knee Injury
|
