Leafs Squeak Out A Point In Washington

The Maple Leafs continued their streak of consecutive games earning at least one point with a 2-2 tie against the Washington Capitals. The Leafs were without two of their better defensemen in Tomas Kaberle, who is out with a shoulder injury and Aki Berg, who came down with the flu after Tuesday’s game against Tampa Bay. Ed Belfour received a night off this evening; however, he will most likely be back in goal tomorrow as the Leafs will take on the Montreal Canadiens.

The Leafs gave up both goals against during penalty killing situations which does not come as much of a surprise considering two defensemen used frequently killing penalties were not in the lineup. Wade Belak was used during some penalty killing situations but it is unrealistic to expect him to do as good a job as Aki Berg or Tomas Kaberle. Kidd did not have much of a chance on either goal as loose men were able to tap in rebounds on both goals. He played quite well throughout the rest of the game though making a number of difficult saves.

A new line consisting of Nik Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, and Joe Nieuwendyk looked fairly good generating some good chances including the Leafs first goal of the game. Antropov was able to recover the puck in the corner and get it to Ponikarovsky infront who was able to jam in his rebound.

Mats Sundin also continued his offensive success of late with a solid goal in the second period. He took a pass at the blueline, fought his man off and beat him to the net sticking a perfect shot over the shoulder of Olaf Kolzig.

The Leafs will take on the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow and then the Florida Panthers on Tuesday finishing up their games before Christmas.