Fletcher Gets First Win As Leafs Edge Caps With Late Goal
Posted January 23, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was Cliff Fletcher who acquired Mats Sundin during his first stint as G.M. of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1994. And it was Sundin who gave Fletcher his first win with the team in 2008 when he scored the game winner with just 29.2 seconds in regulation to give the Buds a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
The goal also tied Sundin with Maurice Richard (544) for 24th in all-time NHL goals, and in many ways he looked like the “Rocket” on the play, driving to the net with a fierce intensity before slipping a rebound under a sprawling Olaf Kolzig.
“With everything that’s happened, we all feel pressure to win,” said Sundin. “Everybody feels it’s time to pull up the socks.”
“We’ve got bigger and more important things to think about right now,” Sundin said. “But Rocket Richard was a player we all know about and to score as many as him and be mentioned with him is a great honour.”
Chad Kilger and Alex Steen scored Toronto’s other goals, and Vesa Toskala made a successful return in net making 30 saves.
Alexander Ovechkin scored his league-best 39th goal and Alexander Semin added the other marker for the Caps.
The teams meet again Thursday night in Washington.
