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MAPLE LEAFS 4, Devils 1
Leafs gain fifth straight win
TORONTO (CP) -- With five straight wins and a share of first place in the overall NHL standings, the Toronto Maple Leafs have every reason to enjoy their Christmas break.
"The only thing we're missing is snow, maybe," goaltender Curtis Joseph, alluding to the lack of white stuff on the ground outside the Air Canada Centre, said after another stellar performance helped the Leafs down the New Jersey Devils 4-1.
Igor Korolev, Nik Antropov, Jonas Hoglund and Dmitri Khristich scored Toronto's goals. Claude Lemieux had staked New Jersey to an early 1-0 lead before the Leafs roared back.
"It was one of our best games this year," said Joseph. "We're just going to try and keep it going."
The Leafs, 22-11-4-2, are off now until next Wednesday when they hit the road against the New York Islanders.
New Jersey outshot Toronto 32-20, but Joseph was nearly unbeatable -- again.
"It just seemed like we had a lot of jump," he said in deflecting praise to his teammates. "All the lines were going and everybody had good speed.
"I thought we could have had a few more goals."
Lemieux got his stick on a Lyle Odelein point shot to put the Devils up 1-0 at 8:23, and Korolev tied it 1-1 with a breakaway goal at 16:05 while killing a cross-checking penalty against teammate Kevyn Adams.
"They're a tough team to play against," Leafs defenceman Bryan Berard said of the Devils. "They play that trap to a tee."
But the Devils, who had beaten Philadelphia 3-2 at home Wednesday, tired as the game went on.
Danny Markov set up Antropov to the left of goaltender Martin Brodeur for the go-ahead goal at 12:49 of the second period.
Hoglund's power-play goal at 14:57 gave the Leafs some breathing room, and Khristich added a cushion when he was set up by Steve Thomas at 15:03 of the third period.
Notes:Antropov, who had only one goal in his first 22 NHL goals, has four in his last three games . . . Hoglund's next goal will tie his career best of 19 in his rookie season, 1996-97, with Calgary . . . New Jersey rookies have amassed 53 points, the most of any team's first-year players.
Summary
NHL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
NEW JERSEY 1 0 0 1
TORONTO 1 2 1 4 FINAL
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: NJD - CLAUDE LEMIEUX 12 (LYLE ODELEIN, SERGEI NEMCHINOV)
8:23
TOR - (SH) IGOR KOROLEV 6 (GARRY VALK) 16:05
2ND PRD: TOR - NIK ANTROPOV 5 (DANNY MARKOV, DMITRI KHRISTICH) 12:49
TOR - (PP) JONAS HOGLUND 18 (MATS SUNDIN, TOMAS KABERLE)
14:57
3RD PRD: TOR - DMITRI KHRISTICH 8 (STEVE THOMAS, NIK ANTROPOV) 15:03
POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: NJD - 0 OF 2, TOR - 1 OF 5.
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
NJD 10 10 12 32
TOR 7 7 6 20
GOALIES: NJD - MARTIN BRODEUR
TOR - CURTIS JOSEPH
OFFICIALS: REF - ANGUS, MAROUELLI
LIN - KOVACHIK, AMELL
ATT: 19,213
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