Tim Brent Scores Winner As Leafs Beat Fragile Thrashers 5-4
Posted February 7, 2011 10:38 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Toronto Maple Leafs took advantage of a team with a more fragile confidence than their own.
Nikolai Kulemin stole the puck from Thrashers defenceman Dustin Byfuglien and scored to put the Leafs ahead in the third period Monday before Tim Brent scored the winner in a wild 5-4 victory over Atlanta.
The teams have played high-scoring games all season, combining for 30 goals in their three meetings so far.
Dion Phaneuf, Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur also had goals for the Maple Leafs (22-26-5).
Byfuglien, Evander Kane, Nik Antropov and Andrew Ladd replied for Atlanta (24-22-10).
Toronto coach Ron Wilson tinkered with his lines for the first time in roughly a month and seemed to find some chemistry. Frustrated winger Phil Kessel saw his goal drought reach 11 games, but looked good on a new top unit with Grabovski and Kulemin for the final two periods.
They were on the ice when Toronto took its first lead of the night at 4:17 of the third period. Kulemin took advantage of a brutal giveaway by Byfuglien, intercepting a pass and beating Ondrej Pavelec between the legs.
Brent’s eventual winner came during a nice energy shift with Joey Crabb and Colby Armstrong. He scored his seventh of the season from his knees to make it 5-3 at 9:28.
Even though Ladd converted on a scramble at 11:01, Atlanta wouldn’t get any closer.
The Thrashers have been struggling since getting hammered 9-3 by Toronto on Jan. 7, putting together a 2-7-4 run dating back to then. As a result, they’ve fallen out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference.
A parade to the penalty box got them off to a good start on Monday. The Leafs took six minor penalties in the opening 20 minutes and spotted Atlanta a 2-0 lead.
Kane scored his 14th of the season at 2:39 with a man advantage after the puck bounced off teammate Bryan Little’s skate and on to his stick.
Byfuglien made it 2-0 during a 5-on-3 advantage, hammering a point shot past J.S. Giguere at 16:14. He appeared to throw a monkey off his back in the goal celebration after getting his first point in 14 games.
The Leafs came out stronger in the second period and Phaneuf ended a streak of his own with a goal at 1:21. That was his first at Air Canada Centre since joining the Leafs over a year ago.
Grabovski’s 22nd of the season with one second left on a power play at 4:06 made it 2-2 before Antropov, the former Leaf, put Atlanta back ahead less than a minute later.
MacArthur tied it 3-3 before the intermission by redirecting a nice Tomas Kaberle feed at 15:37. That was his 17th of the season — matching a career high.
Notes:Toronto scratched defenceman Brett Lebda for the ninth straight game and 26th time this season … Leafs forward Darryl Boyce played with a full face shield. He suffered a serious cut to his nose last week … Freddy Meyer (upper body), Tobias Enstrom (finger) and Jim Slater (concussion) sat out for the Thrashers … Atlanta’s Freddy Modin left the game with an upper-body injury … Byfuglien leads the Thrashers with 42 points … Announced attendance was 19,104.
