Ed Belfour made 36 saves, and Joe Nieuwendyk scored twice on a shaky Patrick Lalime as the Toronto Maple Leafs advanced to the second round of the playoffs Tuesday by beating the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in Game 7.
"I know Lalime would like to have a couple of those back," Nieuwendyk said. "He played a terrific series, but our goalie played a little bit better. We're awfully excited to be moving on."
Ottawa is 0-4 in series against Toronto and 0-4 in Game 7s overall. The Senators avoided the Maple Leafs in last year's playoffs and reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals before losing to Stanley Cup champion New Jersey.
The Maple Leafs, who led 3-0 after first period, will meet the Flyers in the second round -- beginning with Game 1 on Thursday night in Philadelphia.
Toronto enforcer Tie Domi sparked his team by assisting on the first goal. Nieuwendyk added two weak goals on Lalime, who was replaced by backup Martin Prusek to start the second.
"It's not the way you want it to end," Lalime said. "They were both bad goals."
Following Ottawa's double overtime victory in Game 6 on Sunday, Senators owner Eugene Melnyk predicted his team would win Game 7 easily.
Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson also vowed his team would win the series after the Senators lost Game 5. It wasn't to be, largely because of Lalime's poor play. The goalie, who struggled this season, allowed three goals on just 11 shots.
Belfour, who tied an NHL record by recording three shutouts in series, looked spectacular again. Fans chanted "Ed-die, Ed-die!" throughout.
Toronto won the series despite being outshot 238-154, and Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn called Belfour his best player earlier in the day.
Ottawa's Vaclav Varada cut Toronto's lead to 3-1 just 22 seconds in the second period, but the Senators couldn't close the gap and went 0-for-3 on the power play in the period.
The Senators, who ranked No. 1 in the NHL with the man advantage during the regular season, went 3-for-35 against Toronto.
Bryan McCabe gave the Maple Leafs a 4-1 lead at 7:59 of the third.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland to push their NBA-best record to 37-8. The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak. Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Isaiah Joe added 16 off the bench. Center Isaiah Hartenstein, back after a five-game absence with a calf injury, added 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a big block. The Western Conference leaders were under pressure late as Portland, trailing by 15 heading
The Golden State Warriors on Wednesday withstood Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 52-point outburst to beat the Western Conference leading Thunder 116-109. Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as Golden State erased a double-digit deficit and pulled away late for the victory. “We just stayed solid,” said Curry, who entered the contest mired in a shooting slump and had just four points on one basket in the first half. “Just all-around effort.” The Thunder, fueled by 31 first-half points from Gilgeous-Alexander, led by as many as 14 in the
RSS