Good Late Effort Gives Leafs The Win

Less than six minutes into last night’s game against the Atlanta Thrashers, the Leafs were already trailing by two goals. A very poor start gave many fans the feeling that this might turn into another seven or eight goal debacle. Fortunately for the Maple Leafs, Brian Leetch took over halfway through the first period to get his team on the board. Making two unbelievable moves to get in alone on Atlanta netminder, Pasi Nurminen, he picked up his rebound after a failed scoring attempt and found Tie Domi in the slot who wired a quick shot in. Before the end of the period the Leafs tied the game after Roberts made a strong play to initiate the forecheck behind the Thrashers goal. He picked up a loose puck and sent it out infront to Mogilny who flipped it over the fallen netminder.

A scoreless second period left the game tied after two periods allowing the Leafs’ offensive firepower to go to work. Gary Roberts scored the eventual game winning goal early in the period and Nik Antropov added the insurance marker. The Leafs top line of Mogilny, Roberts and Sundin, which had been held off the scoreboard in the Leafs’ last two games came through big last night as they will need to do more often than not for the team to have a lengthy postseason schedule.

Owen Nolan, who will likely miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury in Saturday’s game, was replaced by Matt Stajan. He played on a line with Robert Reichel and Tie Domi while Tom Fitzgerald moved up to take Nolan’s spot on the line with Kilger and Francis.

The Leafs have three days off until they play the Buffalo Sabres on Friday and the Senators on Saturday to close out the regular season.