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Maple Leafs prevail on Belfour's composed play

TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs had their proverbial backs to the wall and they did anything but beat their heads against it. Instead, they found a way to beat the Philadelphia Flyers in double overtime by playing their most focused and disciplined game of the series.

Actually, both teams played exceptionally well. The Leafs carried the play in each of the first two periods and the Flyers found the perfect balance between patience and persistence to keep the game even at one after 40 minutes.

The third period was mostly an exercise in caution, but as the extra sessions unfolded, chances emerged as both teams tired. The goaltenders at both ends were magnificent, with the Leafs' Ed Belfour and the Flyers' Roman Cechmanek each making several sparkling saves during sudden death.

The Leafs received a big boost as Nik Antropov returned to the lineup after breaking his foot in Game 1. Twelve days later, he was instrumental in establishing the forecheck -- something that was lacking in the Leafs' Game 5 loss.

On the other side of the injury equation, the Flyers were without Eric Desjardins because he broke his foot in Game 5. The Flyers did a nice job of compensating for the loss of their best rearguard through regulation, but as time went on, the added minutes heaped on the top four defensemen began to take a toll. Dimitry Yushkevich -- on the winning goal in particular -- looked to have lost a step he could ill afford to give.

As is the case in most OT game-winners, it began with an error borne of fatigue in the form of a turnover by Keith Primeau, who failed to clear the puck past defenseman Robert Svehla. Svehla wristed a shot wide left that Cechmanek chose to play and failed to catch. At least he had his glove on this play. On the first goal of the game, Robert Reichel stripped Cechmanek of the puck and his catching glove behind the net. Reichel wheeled and scored from a severe angle as Cechmanek was trying to retrieve his glove and put it back on his hand.

On the deciding goal, with glove in place, it didn’t work anyway. Darcy Tucker exerted tremendous energy to put the caroming puck on a sprawling Cechmanek, who did a great job to reverse his field and get a pad on the puck. But the rebound went to Travis Green -- on the ice replacing Antropov on a line change -- who put the puck into the vacated goal.

Too much detail? That's what sudden death is all about. Consider that these teams do it all over again tomorrow night in Philly. This time, both teams face elimination.

I can't wait.

Three Stars

First Star: Belfour was brilliant on his 38th birthday. In overtime, he was so calm and composed, he looked like a golfer calmly trusting his swing in every situation -- the course to himself at daybreak.

Second Star: Jeremy Roenick couldn’t win a face off against Mats Sundin, but in every other facet of the game, Roenick outplayed Sundin and did it after falling awkwardly into the boards after a second-period collision with Svehla.

Third Star: The Toronto defensemen played much better as a group -– none more steady and dependable from start to finish than Aki Berg.

Darren Eliot, a former NHL goaltender, is a hockey analyst for SI.com. Eliot will provide Stanley Cup Playoffs commentary throughout the postseason and is also broadcasting games for NHL Radio.

 

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