Yanic doesn't panic

By MIKE ZEISBERGER -- Toronto Sun
While his teammates are dropping like flies, Yanic Perreault continues to buzz around the ice like one.

With fellow Maple Leafs Mike Johnson, Nik Antropov, Bryan Berard and Alexander Karpovtsev all unable to play last night because of injuries, Perreault proved to be the hero for the gritty Maple Leafs in a hard-earned 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals at the Air Canada Centre.

The red-hot centre scored for the fifth time in the past seven games and was chosen the first star for his efforts. His second-period goal, which came during a frenzied scramble in front of the Washington net, proved to be the winner.

"With all those guys out, everyone showed a lot of character," said Perreault, who leads Toronto with 22 points on eight goals and 14 assists. "We had a lot of guys who stepped up.

"These are a big two points. We haven't won back-to-back games like this in a while."

For the record, the Leafs put together consecutive victories for the first time since winning five in a row from Oct. 23 to Nov. 3.

"I felt pretty good," Perreault said. "The entire team seemed to have some jump.

"I had a few chances in the first and second. I was a bit lucky on the goal because the rebound came right to me, but I'll take it."

How dominant was Perreault? He had seven of the Leafs' 31 shots and won 65% of his faceoffs (13-of-22).

"Yanic definitely is an underrated player," Leafs captain Mats Sundin said. "He made an immediate impact when he joined us last season."

Rookie Adam Mair and veteran Steve Thomas also got goals for the Leafs, who led 1-0 and 2-1 by periods. Thomas' goal was into an empty net in the dying seconds. Jeff Halperin was the only Capital to beat Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph, scoring short-handed.

Perreault shared the spotlight with many of his teammates.

There was the Cinderella story of Mair, the game's third star, who scored his first regular-season NHL goal. Not bad for a guy who was called up earlier in the day from the AHL farm club in St. John's.

There was the slick passing of centre Alyn McCauley, who set up Mair beautifully to open the scoring at 11:36 of the first period. It was the first point since Nov. 6 for McCauley, still recovering from a concussion suffered March 3.

There was the solid play of Tie Domi, who took over Johnson's spot on the second line beside Perreault and Dmitri Khristich. Domi earned praise from Leafs general manager/coach Pat Quinn, who liked the way the feisty winger drove the net all night long.

There was the offensive awakening of Thomas, who scored for the second consecutive game after collecting just one goal in the first 24.

And there was a game-saving stop by Joseph on Ulf Dahlen with three minutes remaining.

It might not have been pretty, but it definitely was a complete team effort.

"We showed last year we had more depth than many thought we had," Quinn said.

The Leafs next game is Thursday in Raleigh, N.C., against the Hurricanes.

"It doesn't get any easier," Domi said. "But all teams have to deal with injuries. We just have to play our way through it.

"We can't look for Mats to do it every night."

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