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LEAFS 3, Capitals 1
Mair sparks Leafs to victory
TORONTO (CP) -- It took Adam Mair half a period to do what Todd Warriner struggled to do all season. Score a goal.
Mair, who was recalled from St. John's earlier in the day and didn't arrive in Toronto until 5 p.m., scored his first regular-season NHL goal as the Maple Leafs defeated the Washington Capitals 3-1 on Monday.
"I think I was more exhausted before I could build up any nerves," said Mair, who scored at 11:36 in the first period. "It was a relief to get that early goal because it calmed things down and let me settle into the game."
Warriner, who had three goals in 18 games and was a healthy scratch the last six games, was dealt to Tampa Bay Monday for a third-round pick in 2000.
"Adam brings an ingredient that we clearly need. He's going to get a chance to show his wares," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "He's a young guy and we don't want him to spoil him or have him sit around too much so he needs to play to continue to develop his game."
Yanic Perreault and Steve Thomas also scored for Toronto (14-9-3-2). Defenceman Tomas Kaberle had two assists and Curtis Joseph made 20 saves to win his league-leading 12th game.
"(Mair) played great. He got us going in the first period with a big goal. He works very hard," Perreault said. "(Washington) worked until the end of the game and CuJo made some great saves."
Jeff Halpern scored a shorthanded goal for Washington (9-10-4-1), who had only lost one game in its previous seven (4-1-2-0). Olaf Kolzig stopped 28 shots.
Perreault scored the winner when he banged in a loose puck off Chris McAllister's point shot at 13:08 of the second period to give the Leafs the lead two minutes after Washington had tied it.
Ahead 1-0, the Leafs got caught napping on their power play. Kaberle blocked a pass on a Washington 2-on-1, but the Capitals got a few more chances before Halpern scored on a spinnerama backhand shot from the slot.
In their previous matchup earlier in the month, Washington outmuscled Toronto, to end the Leafs' five-game winning streak on Nov. 5 with a 5-3 victory, but neither team was terribly aggressive Monday as the Leafs won their third straight home game.
"We had a couple guys that didn't show up for us tonight and it cost us," Washington coach Ron Wilson said. "We need everybody on the same page and tonight they weren't."
Mair was on the same page as McCauley on the opening goal. McCauley slid a pass through Brendan Witt's legs on a two-on-one and Mair directed it home.
"He made a terrific pass through the legs and all I had to do was put my stick on it," said Mair, who played the previous night in Quebec City and logged 7:56 of ice time on Monday.
Last year, Mair was promoted directly to the NHL for the Leafs' playoff run after three seasons with the OHL Owen Sound Platers. The 20-year-old had a goal in five games. He had 17 points in 24 games this year with St. John's in his first professional season.
NOTES: Defenceman Dmitriy Yakushin, making his NHL debut, was also recalled from St. John's. ... Centre Nik Antropov (arm) and defencemen Alexander Karpovtsev (shoulder), Bryan Berard (groin) and Nathan Dempsey (concussion) did not dress.
Summary
-----------------------------
Washington 0 1 0--1
Toronto 1 1 1--3
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Toronto, Mair 1 (Mccauley, Kaberle), 11:36.
Penalties: Ri Zednik, Was (roughing), 4:48; Mcallister, Tor
(interference), 17:40.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Washington, J Halpern 3 (shorthanded)
(Black, C Johansson), 11:06. 3, Toronto, Perreault 8 (Khristich,
Mcallister), 13:08. Penalties: Cross, Tor (hooking), 3:14; Bulis, Was
(hooking), 9:56; Domi, Tor (interference), 14:08; Mcallister, Tor (high
sticking), 17:11; J Halpern, Was (Obstr holding), 19:12.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Toronto, Thomas 3 (empty net) (Sundin,
Kaberle), 19:40. Penalties: Klee, Was (interference), 4:56; Black, Was
(slashing), 12:00.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Washington 7 8 6--21
Toronto 11 9 11--31
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Was - 0 of 4, Tor - 0 of 5. Goalies:
Washington, Kolzig (30 shots, 28 saves; record: 6-9-4). Toronto, Joseph
(21, 20; record: 12-6-3). A:19,068. Referee: P Devorski. Linesmen: G
Devorski, Driscoll.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Washington Toronto
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Black 0 1 +1 1 Cross 0 0 even 0
Bondra 0 0 -1 5 Di Yushkevich 0 0 +1 1
Bulis 0 0 -2 1 Dm Yakushin 0 0 even 0
C Johansson 0 1 -1 3 Domi 0 0 +1 1
Dahlen 0 0 -1 2 Hoglund 0 0 even 4
Gonchar 0 0 -1 1 K King 0 0 +1 0
Huscroft 0 0 -1 0 Kaberle 0 2 +2 0
J Halpern 1 0 +1 1 Khristich 0 1 +1 0
Klee 0 0 even 0 Korolev 0 0 even 2
Konowalchuk 0 0 -3 1 Mair 1 0 +1 1
Metropolit 0 0 even 0 Markov 0 0 +1 0
Mironov 0 0 -1 1 Mcallister 0 1 +1 1
Nikolishin 0 0 even 0 Mccauley 0 1 +1 2
Oates 0 0 -1 0 Perreault 1 0 even 7
Ri Zednik 0 0 -2 2 S Berezin 0 0 even 4
Svejkovsky 0 0 even 2 Sundin 0 1 even 3
Tezikov 0 0 even 0 Thomas 1 0 even 3
Witt 0 0 even 1 Valk 0 0 even 2
Sacco Leg Injury Antropov Shoulder
Simon Healthy Johnson Healthy
Eagles Healthy B Berard Groin
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