GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NHL: TORONTO (11-17) at NY RANGERS (15-12)

By Larry Fleisher
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Once the Toronto Maple Leafs resumedcrashing the net, they were on their way to another victory.

Nik Antropov recorded a natural career hat trick after the MapleLeafs squandered a two-goal lead, lifting the club to itsfourth straight win, a 6-2 victory over the New York Rangers onThursday.


Toronto scored on two rebounds, a tip-in and a pair ofdeflections to keep alive its longest winning streak of theseason. The Maple Leafs also climbed above .500 (12-11-6) forthe first time since October 27, when they recorded a 4-1 winhere.


Matt Stajan and captain Mats Sundin scored in the first 10 1/2minutes of the contest to give Toronto a 2-0 bulge. But NewYork answered late in the first period with power-play goals bydefensemen Daniel Girardi and Fedor Tyutin.


However, that was it for the Rangers as Antropov scored the nextthree tallies to open a 5-2 advantage. The native ofKazakhstan sandwiched man-advantage goals around a deflection ofdefenseman Ian White's slap shot late in the second to recordhis second career hat trick.


Antropov registered his first three-goal game in the NHL onDecember 20, 1999 against Florida.


After Antropov parked his 6-6 frame in front of the net anddeflected defenseman Pavel Kubina's wrist shot from the rightfaceoff circle 3 1/2 minutes into the third period to completehis feat, Alex Steen sealed the victory with 76 secondsremaining.


The Rangers were dealt consecutive regulation losses for thethird time this season and first since October 13-18. They alsofell to 3-4-1 in their last eight contests.


Toronto went nearly 15 minutes without a shot on goal afterSundin's tap-in at the left doorstep gave them a 2-0 lead. TheMaple Leafs ended their drought during a four-minute power playcreated when Mark Bell drew a high-sticking penalty ondefenseman Marek Malik.


Late in the man advantage, Toronto finally broke through asgoaltender Henrik Lundqvist was unable to smother Steen's wristshot, allowing Antropov to grab the rebound and put in abackhander on the glove side at 5:11 of the middle session toextend his goal-scoring streak to three games.


Antropov, who is four goals shy of his career high of 18 setlast season, started the play leading to the third goal and thenfinished off Toronto's fourth by emerging from the left sideand getting his stick on White's blast from the left point.

New York rallied from the early deficit behind the playmaking ofoffseason acquisitions Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, who bothassisted on the goals by Girardi and Tyutin.


Steen, Sundin and Stajan each added an assist, AlexeiPonikarovsky and defenseman Hal Gill set up two tallies apieceand Vesa Toskala made 23 saves for the Maple Leafs.

Lundqvist allowed four goals on 10 shots over two periods beforebeing replaced by Stephen Valiquette, who made four saves inthe third session.

 

NHL: TORONTO at NY RANGERS

<div class="pre">------------------------------------
Toronto 2 2 2 --6
Ny Rangers 2 0 0 --2
------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Toronto, Matt Stajan 7 (Chad Kilger), 3:30.
2, Toronto, Mats Sundin 14 (Alexei Ponikarovsky, Hal Gill), 10:36. 3,
Ny Rangers, Dan Girardi 4 (power play) (Scott Gomez, Chris Drury),
16:25. 4, Ny Rangers, Fedor Tyutin 4 (power play) (Scott Gomez, Chris
Drury), 18:59. Penalties: B Betts, Nyr (interference), 4:54; B
Dubinsky, Nyr (interference), 7:40; W Belak, Tor (major fighting),
12:40; C Orr, Nyr (major fighting), 12:40; P Kubina, Tor (roughing),
14:41; I White, Tor (holding), 17:44.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Toronto, Nik Antropov 12 (power play) (Alex
Steen, Alexei Ponikarovsky), 5:11. 6, Toronto, Nik Antropov 13 (Ian
White, Hal Gill), 16:40. Penalties: M Malik, Nyr (double minor high
sticking), 1:47; H Gill, Tor (hooking), 5:36.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 7, Toronto, Nik Antropov 14 (power play)
(Pavel Kubina, Mats Sundin), 3:34. 8, Toronto, Alex Steen 5 (Matt
Stajan, Boyd Devereaux), 18:44. Penalties: R Callahan, Nyr
(slashing), 1:41.

Shots on goal:
---------------------------------------
Toronto 4 6 6 --16
Ny Rangers 12 4 9 --25
---------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: Toronto - 2 of 5, Ny Rangers - 2 of 3. Goalies
: Toronto, Vesa Toskala (25 shots, 23 saves; record: 10-8-3). Ny
Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist (10 shots, 6 saves; record: 14-11-1),
Stephen Valiquette (start of 3rd period, 6, 4). A: 18,200. Referees:
Mick Mcgeough, Mike Leggo. Linesmen: Craig Spada, Don Henderson.</div>

 

NHL: TORONTO at NY RANGERS

<div class="pre">-----------------------------------------
TORONTO 2 2 2 --6
NY RANGERS 2 0 0 --2
-----------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Toronto, Matt Stajan 7 (Chad Kilger), 3:30.
2, Toronto, Mats Sundin 14 (Alexei Ponikarovsky, Hal Gill), 10:36. 3,
Ny Rangers, Dan Girardi 4 (power play) (Scott Gomez, Chris Drury),
16:25. 4, Ny Rangers, Fedor Tyutin 4 (power play) (Scott Gomez, Chris
Drury), 18:59. Penalties: B Betts, Nyr (interference), 4:54; B
Dubinsky, Nyr (interference), 7:40; W Belak, Tor (major fighting),
12:40; C Orr, Nyr (major fighting), 12:40; P Kubina, Tor (roughing),
14:41; I White, Tor (holding), 17:44.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Toronto, Nik Antropov 12 (power play) (Alex
Steen, Alexei Ponikarovsky), 5:11. 6, Toronto, Nik Antropov 13 (Ian
White, Hal Gill), 16:40. Penalties: M Malik, Nyr (double minor high
sticking), 1:47; H Gill, Tor (hooking), 5:36.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 7, Toronto, Nik Antropov 14 (power play)
(Pavel Kubina, Mats Sundin), 3:34. 8, Toronto, Alex Steen 5 (Matt
Stajan, Boyd Devereaux), 18:44. Penalties: R Callahan, Nyr
(slashing), 1:41.

Shots on goal:
----------------------------------------
TORONTO 4 6 6 --16
NY RANGERS 12 4 9 --25
----------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: TOR - 2 of 5, NYR - 2 of 3. Goalies : Toronto,
Vesa Toskala (25 shots, 23 saves; record: 10-8-3). Ny Rangers, Henrik
Lundqvist (10 shots, 6 saves; record: 14-11-1), Stephen Valiquette
(start of 3rd period, 6, 4). A: 18,200. Referees: Mick Mcgeough, Mike
Leggo. Linesmen: Craig Spada, Don Henderson.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS

TORONTO NY RANGERS
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
A Steen 1 1 +1 2 B Shanahan 0 0 -2 3
M Sundin 1 1 +2 1 B Betts 0 0 even 2
M Stajan 1 1 +2 1 B Dubinsky 0 0 -1 1
T Kaberle 0 0 +1 0 M Staal 0 0 -1 2
C Kilger 0 1 +1 1 S Gomez 0 2 -2 3
J Pohl 0 0 even 0 C Drury 0 2 -1 1
B Devereaux 0 1 +2 2 R Callahan 0 0 -2 0
A Ponikarovsky 0 2 +2 2 P Prucha 0 0 -1 2
B McCabe 0 0 +1 2 C Orr 0 0 even 0
H Gill 0 2 +2 0 M Rozsival 0 0 -2 1
W Belak 0 0 even 0 J Strudwick 0 0 even 0
P Kubina 0 1 +1 0 R Hollweg 0 0 even 0
K Wellwood 0 0 even 0 D Girardi 1 0 -2 2
J Blake 0 0 even 1 F Tyutin 1 0 -1 3
A Wozniewski 0 0 +1 0 J Jagr 0 0 -1 3
I White 0 1 +2 0 M Malik 0 0 -2 0
N Antropov 3 0 +2 3 M Hossa 0 0 -1 2
M Bell 0 0 even 1 M Straka 0 0 -1 0
D Tucker SHOULDER P Mara SHOULDER
B Battaglia HEALTHY</div>

 

By Larry Fleisher
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Once the Toronto Maple Leafs resumedcrashing the net, they were on their way to another victory.

Nik Antropov recorded a natural hat trick after the Maple Leafssquandered a two-goal lead, lifting the club to its fourthstraight win, a 6-2 victory over the New York Rangers onThursday.


Toronto scored on two rebounds, a tip-in and a pair ofdeflections to keep alive its longest winning streak of theseason. The Maple Leafs also climbed above .500 (12-11-6) forthe first time since October 27, when they recorded a 4-1 winhere.


"It's a great for win for us, and we talked about getting ourback end and moving the puck across the line a little bit.Instead of getting bombs to the net, just trying to get somepucks to the net," Toronto coach Paul Maurice said. "I stilldidn't think we got enough pucks to the net, but we were right,I was wrong and we scored enough.


"Some basic things, some tips, that's how we scored our goalsagainst Nashville (on Tuesday) and that's how we scored themtoday. We worked hard down low, got it back to the point andworked hard to get to the net."


Toronto is on its longest winning streak since also winning fourin a row from January 27-February 3. The Maple Leafs have wontheir last two despite recording a combined 31 shots on goal.

"It's a great feeling inside the team right now," Antropov said."Everybody is happy and we're just enjoying (it) right now."

"Except for the first and second goal, there's not much (Rangersgoaltender Henrik) Lundqvist could have done," Toronto captainMats Sundin added. "Right now, the puck is bouncing our way,and we'd like to ride that as long as we can."


Matt Stajan and Sundin scored in the first 10 1/2 minutes of thecontest to give Toronto a 2-0 bulge. But New York answeredlate in the first period with power-play goals by defensemenDaniel Girardi and Fedor Tyutin, which did little to ease coachTom Renney's uneasiness about the contest.


"You could see that we weren't quite there," Renney said. "Ididn't see a sustained forecheck. I didn't see enough attackspeed and pressure beyond that in the offensive zone."

That was it for the Rangers as Antropov scored the next threetallies to open a 5-2 advantage. The native of Kazakhstansandwiched man-advantage goals around a deflection of defensemanIan White's slap shot late in the second to record his secondcareer hat trick.


"I just did my part, stand in front of the net," Antropov said.

Antropov registered his first three-goal game in the NHL onDecember 20, 1999 against Florida. The big night Thursday gavehim five goals in his last three contests following a 10-gamedrought.


"It's great to see him get three goals tonight," Sundin said."I thought he was one of our best players tonight."

After Antropov parked his 6-6 frame in front of the net anddeflected defenseman Pavel Kubina's wrist shot from the rightfaceoff circle 3 1/2 minutes into the third period to completehis feat, Alex Steen sealed the victory with 76 secondsremaining.


"He has just an incredible set of hands for that exactly -knocking pucks down," Maurice said of Antropov. "Not the kindof hands that Kyle Wellwood or (Jaromir) Jagr has, but Nik canknock pucks out of the air and off people's sticks, and that'swhere he really, really excels."


The Rangers were dealt consecutive regulation losses for thethird time this season and first since October 13-18. They alsofell to 3-4-1 in their last eight contests.


"Tonight was kind of a head-scratcher," New York's BrendanShanahan said. "I think we said all the right things in theroom. We wanted to come out and play a certain way, and rightaway, we kind of got behind the eight ball."


Toronto went nearly 15 minutes without a shot on goal afterSundin's tap-in at the left doorstep gave them a 2-0 lead. TheMaple Leafs ended their drought during a four-minute power playcreated when Mark Bell drew a high-sticking penalty ondefenseman Marek Malik.


Late in the man advantage, Toronto finally broke through asLundqvist was unable to smother Steen's wrist shot, allowingAntropov to grab the rebound and put in a backhander on theglove side at 5:11 of the middle session to extend hisgoal-scoring streak to three games.


Antropov, who is four goals shy of his career high of 18 setlast season, started the play leading to the third goal and thenfinished off Toronto's fourth by emerging from the left sideand getting his stick on White's blast from the left point.

"Right now, he's showing how good he is," Sundin said. "He'sreally a complete player in my book. He makes great plays, andtonight, he showed that great eye-hand coordination to scoresome tip-in goals."


New York rallied from the early deficit behind the playmaking ofoffseason acquisitions Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, who bothassisted on the goals by Girardi and Tyutin.


Steen, Sundin and Stajan each added an assist, AlexeiPonikarovsky and defenseman Hal Gill set up two tallies apieceand Vesa Toskala made 23 saves for the Maple Leafs.

Lundqvist allowed four goals on 10 shots over two periods beforebeing replaced by Stephen Valiquette, who made four saves inthe third session.


"It was a tough loss for us," said Lundqvist, who has allowedeight goals in his last two starts and was pulled for the firsttime since March 27 at Montreal. "I don't know the reason forit. A big part of our game is goaltending. I know I have toplay better."

 

NHL: TORONTO at NY RANGERS

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NHL
TORONTO 6
NY RANGERS 2</div>