Leafs Thrash Atlanta
Posted October 30, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Three first period power play goals within the span of 86 seconds spelled doom for the Atlanta Thrashers on Monday night, as the Toronto Maple Leafs secured a well-deserved 4-2 win on home ice.
The Buds took advantage of what they perceived to be a somewhat lackadaisical road effort from the Thrashers.
“I find (skilled) teams with the makeup like Atlanta … want nights off from time to time,” said veteran Leafs forward Michael Peca. “It was our goal to drive up the tempo and energy and give them a reason to not want to engage in this game.”
Darcy Tucker scored twice on the power play with red-hot Tomas Kaberle adding the other marker with the man advantage.
Leafs captain Mats Sundin assisted on all three goals.
“We finally got (our power play) going,” said Kaberle, who has four goals in the past two games. “It was just one of the nights where they started going in.”
Jeff O’Neill had Toronto’s other goal.
Ilya Kovalchuk and Brad Larsen scored for Atlanta, which became the first team to beat the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
“Sometimes you come off an emotional win, it’s tough to get going in the next game,” said Thrashers captain Scott Mellanby. “But no excuses.”
“Tonight, the Maple Leafs were a better team,” added Atlanta coach Bob Hartley: They scored on the power play and shut us down.”
