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Leafs cruise Thomas scores twice as Toronto takes Game 2
Posted: Monday May 01, 2000 08:23 PM By Chris Stevenson, SLAM! Sports TORONTO -- It wasn't so much the fact the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators. No, it was much more than the 5-1 score on the Air Canada Centre scoreboard to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal. The Leafs, not known for their aggressiveness, physically dominated the Senators and sent a strong message there is no area of the game in which they will be beaten. To cap off the victory, Leafs tough guy Tie Domi, a presence all night with his ferocious bodywork and disciplined toughness, unloaded a couple of verbal shots at Senator Shaun Van Allen with whom he had been involved all night. "A lot of guys like to talk a tough game, like Van Allen," said Domi, who had stood at centre ice during the warmup and jawed with Van Allen. That ended with Van Allen giving Domi a shove. Domi skated away. The two came together in front of the benches near the end of the game, but Senators winger Colin Forbes stepped between the them. "He had a chance to back up his words. He's so brave publicly. If you have a chance to back it up, back it up. "He was trying to be a hero with all his tough talk. He had the opportunity [to back it up]. The score was 5-1 with three minutes left, but obviously he shied away. That was expected. He's been around a long while and he's been running his whole career." Veteran Senators defenceman Grant Ledyard, who went face-to-face with Domi all the way up the ice after Domi's huge open-ice hit on Ottawa defenceman Patrick Traverse -- payback for a slash to the back of the legs Traverse had given Domi in the second period -- said he was disgusted with Domi's tactics. "A couple of guys were mocking the game," said Ledyard. "Nobody is going to fight in the playoffs. How is that going to do any good? [Domi] looked like he was having fun. More power to him." Said Domi: "It's a war out there. Whatever is said on the ice stays out on the ice, but we weren't being cocky. We were just playing hard and rolling four lines over. When you get a lead like that, everybody is going to be playing." So now the war of words that had so far been waged by the two coaches has spread to the ice. Perhaps now the Senators will find the emotion they need to begin winning some individual battles. After a scoreless first period, the Leafs got to Senators goaltender Tom Barrasso for for three goals in the first three minutes and 49 seconds of the second period. Darcy Tucker got his second of the series going hard to the net for a rebound and Leafs captain Mats Sundin put a wrist shot behind Barrasso less than a minute later from 35 feet out. Toronto led 4-1 after two periods as the Senators finally ended the shutout string of Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph at 99 minutes and 55 seconds on a power-play goal by defenceman Sami Salo. The Leafs dominated the rest of the way with Domi leading in the physical department. Domi said he wanted to extract revenge at the moment Traverse slashed him, but didn't want to hurt his team by taking an extra penalty. "I felt like punching somebody in the head all night," said Domi. "You've got to be tough, but you've got to be disciplined." His discipline summed up what the Leafs have been all about in this series. "It was a helluva hit. A beauty," said Leafs coach Pat Quinn of Domi's body slam on Traverse. "The best I've seen him throw. It was not a little mush against the boards. He has to be [disciplined] or he'll end up sitting on the bench. "It's like offensive guys who hold onto the puck and hold onto the puck waiting for their chance. It's a little selfish and not oriented towards team success. If you're a scorer or a hitter, you can't put yourself above the team." That's what the Leafs have going for them right now. They are playing as a team and the Senators are not.
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