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Sunday, December 19, 1999
Berezin buries the Habs
Slumping sniper snaps funk with game-winning goal
The last Maple Leafs-Canadiens game of this century had all the nostalgia from the earliest days of the rivalry.
Big hits, great goaltending, a Saturday night buzz in the stands, a tense one-goal finish, flags instead of red goal lights and a blood-splattered hero.
"That was fun," said Sergei Berezin, en route to having his lower temple stitched up after last night's 2-1 Leafs victory at the Air Canada Centre.
Berezin emerged from a three-goals-in-11-games slump to score the winner, burying a Mike Johnson pass with 3:42 to play. Despite a 17-point gap in the standings and a depleted lineup, Montreal came loaded for bear, the same way weak Toronto clubs of the Harold Ballard era often stung the Habs dynasty.
"You don't have to drum up emotion for this game," general manager/coach Pat Quinn said. "There was lots of contact out there."
The Leafs still needed two big saves from Curtis Joseph at the buzzer after a Steve Thomas penalty let the Habs play 6-on-4 for the last 23 seconds.
There have been better winning goals in the teams' 714 regular-season and playoff games this century, but Berezin can boast he scored the last one. Yelling furiously to Johnson as he came down the left side, Berezin burst into the clear for a one-timer through Jeff Hackett's pads, the only hole showing.
West-end goal judge Craig Logoe waved a white towel to confirm the tally. He and counterpart Bill Wellman were issued the linen after the goal lights went on the fritz before the game.
Quinn was quick to deny that the puck-hogging Berezin was falling into his doghouse.
"I have no problem with his effort, but he might have been trying too hard to put a square peg in a round hole," Quinn said. "On that goal, he read the play and did what he was supposed to."
Last year, Berezin scored 37 goals, mostly on a line with Igor Korolev and Garry Valk. This year, he has bounced around a lot, including a stint with fourth-liners Kevyn Adams and Kris King. Last night, Berezin was restored to prominence with Korolev and Johnson.
"We have a lot of guys who are not big puck sharers," Quinn said in reference to Berezin's style. "Igor can get him the puck."
The Leafs and Habs met on the eve of the 82nd anniversary of the NHL's first games, with this duel showing no signs on waning in the 21st century. Blue and red crashed into each other all night, with Jim Cummins, one of the Montreal enforcers, scoring the first goal at 10:00 of the second period.
The series record stands at 351-279-84 for the Habs, but the Leafs have got in their licks recently, winning the previous three at the ACC, including the Feb. 20 opening.
Dmitry Yushkevich's power-play goal tied the game six minutes after Cummins' goal. Yushkevich skated in from the point and snapped in his first goal of any stripe this year.
Thomas picked up his 19th assist to help ease the pain of his lower-than-expected goal total.
The Habs had heavy hitters Scott Thornton and Turner Stevenson back in the lineup from a long list of injured, while Chris McAllister, Nik Antropov, Cory Cross and Tie Domi revelled in the heavy going.
"We have been depending too much on passing and shooting," team captain Mats Sundin said. "After the Ottawa game (last week's blotch on the Leafs' 8-2-1 home record since mid-December), we addressed that. We don't want to put guys through the boards, but we do want to finish our checks."
Last night's game was Toronto's 22nd at home, where the Leafs have compiled a record of 16-4-2-0. They need 10 more home wins to break the club record.
Beginning with two games in Florida next week, the Eastern Conference-leading Leafs are away for 12 of the next 18 contests leading up to the all-star break in early February.
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