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Friday, Apr. 7 7:30pm ET
Leafs flex division-champion muscle | |||||
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UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- Stunned silence linked the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Islanders and 8,945 fans after New York goaltender Kevin Weekes went down hard. Steve Thomas' goal midway through the game secured Toronto's 2-1 victory over the Islanders on Friday night, but it was the injury to Weekes that dominated the game. He was removed from the ice on a stretcher after being hit by Toronto forward Darcy Tucker and slamming his head on the ice. "It's scary any time you see a collision between a forward and a goaltender," Islanders coach Butch Goring said. The game was brought to a halt at 15:37 of the second period with Toronto ahead 2-1. As Weekes attempted to kick away a cross-ice pass while in his crease, he couldn't react in time to Tucker, who became airborne when he flipped over defenseman Ian Herbers' skate. Tucker ran into the post and the goalie, and Weekes' head slammed on the ice. Weekes was down about 15 minutes while trainer Rich Campbell held his head still and five others assisted in getting him onto a stretcher. He was taken to Nassau County Medical Center, where X-rays were normal and the pain had lessened. Weekes was released from the hospital Saturday. The Islanders said his availability for Sunday's game against the Florida Panthers will be a game-time decision. Tucker said the incident was an unfortunate accident. "It was a play where the puck went wide," Tucker said, "and the defenseman cut my feet out from under me. There was nowhere to go. It was a split-second thing, but once you're in midair, you have very little control of your body. I feel really bad and I hope he's OK. It's not something I meant to do." Herbers, who was given an interference penalty on the play, said Tucker was at fault. "I think he might have gone to the net a little too hard," Herbers said. "You want forwards to go hard to the net, but you don't want to see the goalie getting hurt." Toronto, which entered the game with two straight losses, came out with intensity and fired the first eight shots of the game. Igor Korolev fired the 10th shot to give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead. Korolev was sent in on a breakaway off a perfect pass from Mats Sundin, and forced Weekes to go down before putting the puck in the open right side at 17:10. Thomas scored on a power play at 11:39 of the second period when he took a pass from Jonas Hoglund, cut across the crease and got Weekes to commit before shooting the puck into the open left side. New York's only goal came 1:47 later when Vladimir Orszagh sent a spinning backhander past Glenn Healy. Orszagh was called up from Lowell Friday afternoon and made it to the arena in time to join the team in the first period. "I was getting ready for the game in Lowell," Orszagh said. "I was hoping to score a goal in the minor leagues tonight, but I'll gladly take this instead." Stephen Valiquette came in to relieve Weekes, and stopped all 11 shots he faced. The loss sets a franchise record for the Islanders, who lost for the 26th time at Nassau Coliseum (9-26-5). The previous record of 25 losses was set in 1972-73, New York's first NHL season. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Toronto Clubhouse NY Islanders Clubhouse RECAPS Pittsburgh 2 Buffalo 1
Toronto 2 AUDIO/VIDEO   Darcy Tucker collides with goalie Kevin Weekes.avi: 972 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   | |||||