Belfour ties Roy for 11th on career shutout list
MONTREAL (AP) -- Buoyed by a game-winning goal, Ric Jackman felt
no pain where his left front tooth used to be.
Jackman scored a power-play goal in the first period to lead the
Toronto Maple Leafs to a 1-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on
Saturday night.
The Toronto defenseman lost his tooth in the second period --
leaving the game briefly after he was struck in the mouth by the
stick of Montreal left wing Jason Ward.
"It was a clean break and just popped out, and that's the end
of it," said Jackman, who continued playing without a painkiller.
His goal was the low-scoring Maple Leafs' second with the man
advantage this season, and just their fifth overall in four games.
Jackman hadn't scored since Dec. 31, 1999 -- a span of 71 games.
When asked if the goal was fair trade for his tooth, he said,
"I'll take that."
Ed Belfour earned his 66th career shutout as Toronto got its
first win of the season.
"We've been working hard for it and it's a nice place to have
it, too," Belfour said.
After allowing a tying goal with two seconds left in regulation
against New Jersey on Thursday, Belfour stopped 15 shots --
including back-to-back saves on chances by Michael Ryder and
Andreas Dackell midway through the third period. Belfour tied
Patrick Roy for 11th place on the career shutout list and leads all
active goalies.
"I'm just happy to get it," Belfour said.
Montreal, which honored Hall of Famer Jean Beliveau before to
the game, had won three games in a row.
Injured captain Saku Koivu and all of the Canadiens' players in
uniform wore No. 4 "Beliveau" jerseys with a captain's "C"
during pregame ceremonies as the team honored the 50th anniversary
of his first contract with the club.
Maple Leafs right wing Alexander Mogilny missed his second
straight game because of a sore groin.
Canadiens rookie left wing Michael Ryder collided with teammate
Donald Audette in the neutral zone midway through the first period,
drawing a cheer from the numerous Toronto fans among the sellout
Bell Centre crowd of 21,273.
Jackman scored while Ward was serving his second minor of the
period.
Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle fed a pass to the point, and
Jackman drove a slap shot off goalie Jose Theodore's right arm and
into the net.
Ward accounted for four of Montreal's seven minor penalties,
including a double minor for high-sticking Jackman 11:57 into the
second.
"We took way too many penalties tonight," defenseman Sheldon
Souray said. "We didn't have a chance to play our defensive system
-- we were penalty killing."
Theodore, who shut out the Maple Leafs a week earlier and made
his fifth straight start, stopped Nik Antropov on a short-handed
breakaway chance early in the third after the Canadiens turned over
the puck.
"Jose made some huge saves but when you take that many
penalties and give that many opportunities against such a great
team, we were lucky to be down just by one after two," Souray
said.
Theodore, who stopped 24 shots, has allowed just three goals in
four games.Game notes
Belfour is one shutout behind Roy Worters, who is 10th on
the career list with 67. ... Ward threw up his arms when he was
called for tripping Owen Nolan 3:10 into the first, despite having
his stick blade caught in Nolan's skate. ... Maple Leafs enforcer
Tie Domi had his nose bloodied when he was inadvertently struck by
Audette's stick off a faceoff early in the first. There was no
penalty called on the play despite Domi's protests to referee Paul
Devorski. "His nose is about a half-an-inch closer to his face
than it was earlier ... that's really close," Toronto coach Pat
Quinn joked. ... Beliveau had 507 goals and 712 assists in 1,125
regular season games, and 79 goals and 97 assists in the playoffs
while winning 10 Stanley Cups -- five as Montreal's captain.
Regular Season Series
Series tied 1-1
Game Information
- Referees:
- Dan O'Halloran
- Paul Devorski
- Linesmen:
- Greg Devorski