Leafs Burn Devils Again

If the Devils fail to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since '95-96, they'll look back on this one. A thorn in their side all season, the Maple Leafs defeated the Devils 4-3 at the Continental Airlines Arena Sunday night.

Entering their third game in four nights, the Leafs had struggled badly in back-to-back losses to Montreal being outscored 11-3. None of that mattered against their favorite opponent. Remarkably, the win allowed Toronto to sweep the season series. They entered play 12th in the East with 70 points trailing eighth seeded Montreal by seven points and the seventh place Devils by nine. The victory kept their slim playoff hopes alive.

Fresh off their emotional 4-2 win over Boston Friday on Ken Daneyko Night, the Devils came out with some early pressure on Toronto but couldn't beat journeyman third stringer Jean-Sebastien Aubin. Making his first start of the season, the former Pen stifled the Devils and gave his team a chance to find its legs in their second consecutive game. He set the tone with two strong saves on Zach Parise.

Continuing to come at the Leafs in waves, the Devils second line buzzed but couldn't beat Aubin. When Toronto worked the puck out of their zone, it trapped them at the end of their shift leading directly to the game's first goal. Chad Kilger slid the puck by Brian Rafalski for a two-on-one and was the recipient of a give-and-go with Darcy Tucker for a mini-breakaway. In on Martin Brodeur, Kilger snapped a quick wrister five-hole at 8:34 to put the Leafs up 1-0.

The goal rejuvenated the Leafs. Aggressively forechecking, they forced the Devils into several sloppy turnovers and nearly went ahead two but Brodeur denied Kilger, Matt Stajan and Kyle Wellwood. He also got help from a goalpost on Stajan's shorthanded bid. Shortly after, the Devils would draw even when Erik Rasmussen rebounded Sergei Brylin's wide shot for his first power play tally of the season at 17:42. It was his first goal in seven games.

But the momentum was shortlived when Wellwood converted at the goalmouth just 54 seconds later to put the Leafs back ahead 2-1. Outworking Ken Klee for the puck, Wellwood maneuvered and fired a wrister upstairs. Tucker notched the lone assist for his second point of the night.

After being outshot 17-10 in the first, the Devils outshot the Leafs 11-7 in the second but Aubin stopped them in their tracks. Unfortunately, Brodeur wasn't sharp when Mats Sundin's slapshot surprised him through the legs to give Toronto a two-goal lead at 15:53. Taking a feed from Ian White on the right wing, Sundin ripped his 20th through Colin White's screen past Brodeur.

Down two, the desperate Devils mounted a furious assault in the third which netted some early results to get within one. With Brodeur catching the Leafs in a change, he made a perfect two-line pass to Scott Gomez who fed a streaking Brian Gionta. Gionta's wrist shot with traffic in front rebounded off Aubin right to Gomez, who blistered his 26th past Aubin to cut it to 3-2 only 2:24 in. Brodeur was credited with his second assist in three games.

The Devils pressed hard for the equalizer but Aubin wasn't forthcoming. When Stajan beat Brodeur five-hole on another two-on-one with 8:12 remaining, the Leafs once again led by two. But thanks to some undisciplined Toronto penalties, the Devils cut it to one again when Patrik Elias deflected home his ninth from Gomez on a five-on-three with 3:37 to go.

Still on the power play, they had a golden opportunity to tie it when Luke Richardson was whistled for boarding Parise leading to another two-man advantage. Their best chance to tie it was when Jamie Langenbrunner had a wide open net but one-timed the puck off the outside of the post. Gionta also came close on a stuff-in try but Tomas Kaberle cleared it away in the nick of time.

Aubin finished with 38 saves including stopping 15 of 17 in a frantic third to give the Leafs a much needed win.

Notes: Combined with Montreal's 6-5 win at Pittsburgh, the Devils and Canadiens are tied for the final playoff spot with 79 points with 11 games left. Ninth place Atlanta trails each by three points with the same amount of games to go. ... Returning from a night off after 31 straight starts, Brodeur finished with 26 saves to drop his fourth decision in a row. He has allowed 10 goals in his last two starts and three goals-or-more in four of the last six. ... With an assist, Parise extended his point streak to three straight (2-1-3). ... With a two-point effort, Gomez has two goals and five assists in the last three contests. ... Devil defenseman Brad Lukowich was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. ... Devils (35-27-9, 79 pts) travel to first in the East Ottawa (48-16-6, 102 pts) for the final regular season meeting of the season.