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Maple Leafs hand Sabres first regulation loss of season
2006-11-05
Mats Sundin scored two goals and set up another to help the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Buffalo 4-1 on Saturday, handing the Sabres their first regulation loss of the season. It was rare success in Buffalo for the Maple Leafs, who have just five wins in 25 games at HSBC Center dating back to 1996. Beating the Sabres at home or away has been a rare occurrence this season, the only blemish on Buffalo's sparkling 11-0-1 record coming into Saturday's contest being a 5-4 shootout loss to the Atlanta Thrashers. The Sabres looked ready to extend their streak when Germany's Jochen Hecht opened the scoring midway through the opening period to nose Buffalo in front 1-0. But Toronto hit back with four unanswered goals, Darcy Tucker and Jeff O'Neill scoring between two tallies from Sundin to give the Maple Leafs their fourth win in five games. Toronto netminder Andrew Raycroft was solid with 29 saves. "We've struggled in this building, so it was really nice, a well needed win for us," Sundin told reporters. "We've had a pretty tough schedule the last few weeks and we finished off the road trip in a good way. We go home now and our schedule is going to get better." *Ray Whitney scored a pair of goals and Erik Cole had a goal and two assists as the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes spotted the Ottawa Senators a 2-0 lead then rallied to claim a 3-2 win in Ottawa. Rod Brind'Amour assisted on Carolina's first goal to earn his 1,000th career point. *In Philadelphia, Russian sensation Alexander Ovechkin notched his seventh and eighth goals of the season to lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 win over the slumping Flyers, who have just three wins in 13 games this season. *Dan Cleary notched his first two goals of the season to help the Red Wings to a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in Detroit.
NHL Leafs center Peca suffers broken leg, knee injury (2006-12-24)Murray loses coaching debut with Blues (2006-12-13)Maple Leafs hand Sabres first regulation loss of season (2006-11-05)Sabres win 10th straight, tie NHL record (2006-10-27)Last-gasp Crosby helps Penguins edge past Rangers (2006-10-13)
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