The Atlanta Thrashers may be much improved this season, but the Toronto Maple Leafs still have their number.
Darcy Tucker scored twice and Mats Sundin tied a franchise record with three first-period assists as the hometown Maple Leafs defeated the Thrashers 4-2 in front of 19,285 fans at the Air Canada Centre on Monday.
Darcy Tucker scores easily on Kari Lehtonen in Monday's 4-2 Leafs win.
(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
Tomas Kaberle contributed one goal and one assist in support of Andrew Raycroft, who turned aside 31 of 33 shots for the win.
Kaberle has tallied four goals in the last two games after failing to score in his first 11 outings.
Jeff O'Neill had the other goal for the Maple Leafs (6-4-3), who went 3-for-7 with the man advantage.
"The power play gave us a boost," Maple Leafs forward Michael Peca said. "It means a lot to your hockey team because, when those opportunities get wasted, it's a bit of [an] emotional letdown."
Toronto hasn't lost to Atlanta in eight meetings dating back to a 3-2 setback on Oct. 27, 2003.
Last season, the Maple Leafs finished 4-0-0 head-to-head and outscored the Thrashers 22-3.
"I cannot explain why we play so well against them," Tucker said. "We were fortunate to get two points tonight."
Ilya Kovalchuk opened the scoring for the Thrashers (8-2-3), giving him seven goals in his past five games.
Brad Larsen notched his first goal of the season, a short-handed marker with 2:23 remaining.
Kari Lehtonen totalled 18 saves in the loss.
Kovalchuk quick to capitalize
With Bryan McCabe serving four minutes for high-sticking Marian Hossa and Peca penalized for delay of game, Kovalchuck deftly stickhandled into the Toronto zone and rifled a shot by Raycroft for his ninth goal of the season 8:12 into the contest.
But the Maple Leafs replied in 66 seconds, potting three power-play goals in a span of 1:26.
First, Tucker converted Sundin's cross-crease pass for his eighth at 9:18.
Then, Kaberle pinched in from the point and slapped Sundin's soft feed for his fourth at the 10:03 mark.
Tucker tallied his second goal of the night 41 seconds later, reaching behind Lehtonen to tap the puck into the net after the Thrashers goaltender stopped the initial point shot from Sundin.
"Those first-period power plays were the difference," Kovalchuk said. "We just couldn't claw our way back."
It remained 3-1 until O'Neill pounced on a turnover, skated in on a partial breakaway and slipped the puck between Lehtonen's pads for his fourth at 16:05 of the third period.
With files from the Canadian PressRelated
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