| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
TORONTO (AP) -- Sergei Berezin gave the home crowd and his Toronto Maple Leafs teammates plenty to cheer about.
Down by two goals to the first-place team in the Eastern Conference, Berezin rallied the Leafs on Saturday night by scoring a highlight-reel goal that sparked his teammates to a 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.
|  | | New Jersey's Claude Lemieux has a reputation for annoying his opponents, including Toronto's Dmitry Yushkevich. |
"Sergei, I thought, had his best game ever for us," Leafs captain Mats Sundin said. "That first goal, you don't see those anymore in the NHL."
Berezin, who scored twice, weaved his way across center ice, used a behind-the-legs-deke to get past defenseman Ken Daneyko and poked a wrist shot through goalie Martin Brodeur's legs.
"Sergei changed the game for us," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "He was jumping around and had the hot stick. It seemed to rally everyone."
Nik Antropov, Garry Valk and Darcy Tucker also scored for the Leafs, who ended a three-game losing streak.
With two weeks left in the season, the Leafs are within five points of the conference-leading Devils with a game in hand.
"We've had some big games this week but this was the biggest one," Sundin said.
The line of Berezin, Antropov and center Yanic Perreault combined for six points.
"That line is the only thing we've had from an offensive point of view lately," Quinn said.
Quinn knew Perreault and Berezin worked well together, having put them together last season after Perreault was acquired from Los Angeles.
"Sergei and I have always had good chemistry since I got here," Perreault said.
Curtis Joseph stopped 29 shots, including 12 in the third period when the Maple Leafs sat back protecting the two-goal lead.
But like the rest of his teammates, Joseph was dazzled by the Perreault line.
"Those were some of the prettiest passing plays of the year," Joseph said.
The Devils, 1-1 under new coach Larry Robinson, looked nothing like the team that hammered the New York Islanders 8-2 on Friday night in Robinson's first game behind the bench after replacing the
fired Robbie Ftorek.
John Madden had two goals and Petr Sykora also scored for the Devils, who outplayed the Leafs for the first half of the game.
Berezin responded just over a minute after Madden's second goal during a power play, making it 3-3 with a slap shot from the right-faceoff circle into the top left corner past Martin Brodeur's outstretched glove.
Tucker gave Toronto the lead on a controversial play with less than five minutes to go in the second, scoring into a half-empty net after it appeared Toronto captain Mats Sundin interfered with Brodeur. The Devils, who once again gave the puck away in their own zone, argued the call to no avail.
"The way I saw it, he deliberately bumped into him," Robinson said.
But the thought process of the Devils players is what troubled Robinson.
"Some of our decisions are still a little shaky," said Robinson, whose club, despite leading the conference, has only six wins in 19 games.
Berezin responded just over a minute after Madden's goal during a Leafs' power play.
Antropov completed a nice three-way passing play late in the second, tapping in a pass from Perreault at the edge of the crease behind a helpless Brodeur for a 5-3 lead.
Berezin started the play with a fake shot and a perfect pass to Perreault across the Devils zone to the left of Brodeur.
The Devils took a 2-0 lead in the first seven minutes on goals 31 seconds apart from Madden and Sykora.
Valk, wearing a visor for the first time in the wake of teammate Bryan Berard's eye injury, scored short-handed on a breakaway to make it 2-2.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Toronto Clubhouse
Newcomer Quint wears out welcome in New Jersey
First-place Devils fire coach Ftorek, promote Robinson
Leafs boss Dryden wants visors to be mandatory
RECAPS
Los Angeles 4
Boston 4
Washington 4
Ottawa 3
Toronto 5
New Jersey 3
Florida 4
Montreal 2
Calgary 2
Nashville 1
Vancouver 3
Edmonton 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Petr Sykora puts the rebound past Glenn Healy for the goal.
avi: 496 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
