McCabe Squirms As Sabres Edge Leafs In Overtime
Posted October 15, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A thrilling back-and-forth battle ended in heartbreak for Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Andrew Raycroft after one of his own players inadvertently swatted the puck past him to give the rival Buffalo Sabres a 5-4 win with just over 3 seconds to go in overtime.
Ales Kotalik got credit for the winning goal, but it was Buds defenceman Bryan McCabe who actually put the puck in the net when a sloppy clearing attempt went horribly wrong. It was a devastating conclusion for Raycroft, who made several miraculous saves on the night.
The Sabres were down two goals going into the wild third period, when both teams seemed to forget about defence. They pulled out the win with a gutsy effort, and a bit of help from McCabe.
“It’s the strong mentality of this club,” said Kotalik. “We have a strong group in here. We never give up, and we believe in each other and work for each other.”
Jason Pominville and Jochen Hecht had a goal and an assist each, and Adam Mair and Thomas Vanek also scored for the Sabres.
“I thought we played our best hockey once we got down by two goals,” said Sabres centre Tim Connolly. “We never gave up. We started to play desperate, play physical, and really get pucks to the net.”
Jocelyn Thibault made his debut for the Sabres, stopping 21 shots.
After the game McCabe tried to make sense of his glaring gaffe.
“What can you say about luck on my part?”
“I tried to clear it…it was on me. I certainly didn’t mean to put it in the net.”
Chad Kilger had two goals and an assist for the Toronto, while Nik Antropov was named first star after recording a goal and an assist and playing a physical game.
Simon Gamache also scored for the Maple Leafs, who have now lost three of their last four games.
“It doesn’t feel too good right now,” Toronto coach Paul Maurice said. “We don’t have a lot of confidence in our defensive game right now, and it showed. We sat back, and that’s the kiss of death especially against a team that can wind up like that.”
