Pat's Bruins burned

By DAVE FULLER -- Toronto Sun So much for the neutral-zone trap, Ray Bourque and two years of taking dirt from Boston Bruins coach Pat Burns.
Last night the Air Canada Centre resembled Ontario Place on July 1, never mind the lively pyrotechnic show that preceded the Maple Leafs' 83rd home opener.
Toronto lit up Boston 3-0 in the first period, added a fourth goal in the second, then cruised to its easiest win since April 10 when the Leafs pummelled the Florida Panthers 9-1.
Goalie Curtis Joseph earned his 18th shutout in three seasons, kicking out 20 shots -- including five during a six-second span late in the third -- to preserve the 4-0 victory.
The usually animated Burns, 4-1-2 against his former Toronto club entering the night, looked on helplessly as rookie goaltender John Grahame faced wave after wave of Leafs shooters who seemed to have little trouble springing Boston's infamous defensive trap.
"If your defencemen are mobile, get back and get turned quick and your forwards are working to get in position like ours did, the trap never gets a chance to set," Leafs general manager/coach Pat Quinn said.
Mats Sundin, Igor Korolev and Mike Johnson scored in the first period. Todd Warriner finished the Bruins midway through the second.
Bourque, entering his 21st and possibly final season with Boston, was a minus-2 after 20 minutes.
More telling was the way the Leafs dominated the Bruins on faceoffs.
Toronto was a staggering 31-for-38 through two periods. Yanic Perreault won 10 of 11 himself.
"They had some injuries with their faceoff men (Jason Allison has tendinitis in his wrist) while our faceoff guys had a good night," Quinn said. "Certainly, Perreault, Igor (Korolev) and Sundin were dominating."
The Leafs, who have outscored their first two opponents of the NHL season 8-1, face a tougher Colorado Avalanche crew at home tomorrow, although Joseph thinks the Leafs measure up against any team.
"The key for us was to keep the nucleus (of players) from last season (rather than load up on free agents)," he said.
Burns must have been tempted to pass the hat after a disastrous first period during which the Leafs outshot the Bruins 16-3.
With first-string goaltender Byron Dafoe locked in a nasty contract dispute and last season's 70-point man, Dmitri Khristich, in free-agent exile, Boston's players already seemed exasperated.
Sundin kicked his own rebound up to his stick two minutes into the game to ignite last night's fireworks. Korolev and Johnson scored 42 seconds apart late in the period for a 3-0 lead.
The Bruins fared slightly better in a tight-checking second period, but trailed 4-0 after Warriner fended off defenceman Don Sweeney to deflect Bryan Berard's wrist shot past Grahame, who was making his NHL debut.
A new Leafs threesome of Warriner, Johnson and Perreault was a combined plus-6.
"Obviously everyone knows (Warriner) has all the skills and now he's getting a chance to show it," Johnson said.
"Yanic is very easy to play with as a centreman. He really controls the puck well and controls the flow of the game and Todd and I both like to use our speed and generate chances.
"So far, so good."

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