Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Mats Sundin and Darcy Tucker scored during a
shootout to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Florida Panthers, 2-1, at
the Air Canada Centre.
After Jeff O'Neill missed his opportunity for Toronto, but Sundin used a
short-side slap shot from the slot to beat goaltender Alexander Auld high
glove side and Tucker followed with a successful wrist shot, putting the puck
between the netminder's legs.
Auld stopped 47 shots in the defeat.
Toronto goaltender Andrew Raycroft blocked shots by Nathan Horton and
Todd Bertuzzi.
"The guys were awesome," Raycroft said. "They had a ton of chances in the
game, then we finally got one and we got them in the shootout."
Kyle Wellwood scored for the Maple Leafs, who rebounded from a 3-2 shootout
loss to Montreal on Saturday. Tucker and Pavel Kubina assisted Wellwood's goal
with 8:43 left in regulation.
Stephen Weiss scored for the Panthers, who lost their second straight after
opening the season with a win over Boston. Gary Roberts and Bertuzzi assisted
on Weiss' goal.
Raycroft needed to stop only 24 shots. He made a blocker save on a Jay
Bouwmeester breakaway in the overtime period, setting up the shootout victory
for Toronto.
Trailing 1-0, Toronto tied the score as Wellwood scored on a slap shot from
the right circle to the glove side of Auld's shoulder for a three-game point
streak.
"Coming down my wing, I saw Mats, and decided to just shoot it," Wellwood
said. "It's about time we won one in a shootout. Mats and Darcy were
outstanding."
Florida broke a scoreless tie with just under four minutes into the third
period. Weiss found a rebound and scored his first goal of the season on a
backhander stick side on the power play.
Florida finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while Toronto went 0-for-6.
