Leafs scoring falls in line

By LANCE HORNBY -- Toronto Sun
The way Toronto's first line ganged up on Edmonton goalie Tommie Salo last night, you could almost swear Swedes Mats Sundin and Jonas Hoglund had given Steve Thomas honourary viking horns.

The trio crashed its way to four goals, including a pair by Sundin as the Maple Leafs skated to an ill-tempered 5-2 win over the Oilers.

Each member of the trio scored, and Sundin's second of the game in the last minute made him the just 18th Leaf to reach 400 points.

And there was much relief about Thomas' goal.

"I've not been scoring, but Mats has been there all year," Thomas said after he tallied for just the second time this season. A third likely will be added from Friday's 3-2 loss in Philly after the Leafs appealed to the NHL for a scorer's review of a goal credited to Sundin.

In total, the Leafs first-liners tallied eight points to give Toronto just its third win in 11 games. Despite this cruel November, the Leafs could emerge first in the conference if they beat Washington at the Air Canada Centre tomorrow.

But last night's win was a costly two points for Toronto. Emergency callup Nathan Dempsey was knocked out early in the first period with a suspected concussion and rookie centre Nik Antropov re-injured his left arm. Earlier in the day, defenceman Alexander Karpovtsev was put on injured reserve with a possible recurrence of his shoulder problem.

With Bryan Berard out until mid-week, general manager/coach Pat Quinn might have to make another call to St. John's today.

Much of the Leafs' recent woes have been blamed on a lack of speed and the Thomas' goal-scoring drought. There was talk of breaking up the No. 1 line this week.

"Yeah, we heard about it," Hoglund said with a wry smile. "But we weren't worried. I felt we played a good game in Philly."

None of the line's four goals could be considered classics but two were from close quarters, not exactly their specialty.

"When Mats is moving his legs and skating, he's a force," Quinn said of his captain's past three games. "We had some good cycling going on tonight."

Maybe the best example came during a second-period 4-on-4 situation, after first star Curtis Joseph and Oiler Jim Dowd got into a mixup that resulted from a collision Joseph felt was unavoidable.

With the score tied 2-2 -- Sundin, Hoglund and defencemen Tomas Kaberle and Danny Markov reversed some momentum that saw Edmonton outshoot the Leafs 34-22 on the night.

Then Mike Johnson, who had been serving Joseph's penalty, jumped into the play and got the puck across the crease for Sundin to knock in as he was hit.

"Our line has to produce ... that's our job," Sundin said emphatically. "I know a few things about (Salo) from the (Swedish national team), but he's a good goalie."

Thomas' goal hit Oiler Ryan Smyth, but was originally credited to Sundin. In Philly, Sundin told the officials during and after the game that his goal should be Thomas'.

On Thomas' goal, Dempsey, who played just two minutes and 15 seconds of his first NHL game in three years, worked the puck deep before a Jason Smith elbow staggered him.

The Air Canada Centre crowd of 19,337 set another record for most fans to attend a hockey game in Toronto.

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