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BOX SCORE
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Steve Thomas' remarkable
end-to-end overtime rush gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a last-second
victory, and left his teammates in awe.
"He looked like Marshall Faulk out there, breaking tackles,"
goalie Curtis Joseph said, comparing Thomas to the St. Louis Rams
running back, after the Maple Leafs' wild 5-4 victory over the
Vancouver Canucks on Monday night.
|  | | Vancouver's Mark Messier crashes into Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph while trying to jam the puck into the net. |
"That was one of the best goals I've ever seen by a hockey
player," added captain Mats Sundin, who had an assist on the goal,
and led the Maple Leafs with a goal and three assists.
"I thought he was done by the red line, but his legs kept
going. It looked like there was stuff flying around, and two or
three guys hanging all over him. ... First I didn't really think it
went in, but he was celebrating in the corner so it was great."
Thomas got the puck at his own blue line and off he went with
about 10 seconds left. Making his way through the neutral zone,
Thomas cut across the front, holding off two defenders, and managed
to get a weak shot off that surprised goalie Felix Potvin, beating
him through the legs with 5 seconds left.
It was Thomas' second goal of the night, and his 11th
regular-season overtime goal of his career -- first on the all-time list.
"I was just trying to keep my legs moving," Thomas said. "I
knew if I got by them I'd have a good chance of getting a good shot. ... This is pretty awesome."
Thomas' individual effort capped a topsy-turvy game in which the
Maple Leafs blew a 4-1 lead in the final 11 minutes of the third period.
After Mark Messier cut the Toronto lead to 4-2 at the 9:28 mark
of the period, Todd Bertuzzi tied it with two goals in a 15-second
span. The franchise record for two goals by one player is 9 seconds, set by Gerry O'Flaherty on March 15, 1974.
Bertuzzi's first goal came when he rifled a shot from the top of
the left circle that appeared to deflect off a Toronto stick,
beating Joseph over the left shoulder with 5:12 left in the third.
On his game-tying goal, Bertuzzi lifted a weak shot from the
left boards that somehow fooled Joseph, beating him just inside the
far post.
Joseph, however, redeemed himself in the overtime with two
brilliant stops with less than 90 seconds left.
Diving across the crease, he got his chest on Mattias Ohlund's
wraparound attempt and he then somehow managed to stop Donald
Brashear from in-close on the rebound.
Despite the loss, the Canucks -- 0-4-1, including two overtime
losses, in their last five home games -- took the result as a
positive, considering they did manage to secure a point.
"We've got to look at it as a positive. The way we came back and got the point," Bertuzzi said.
Coach Marc Crawford, perhaps, summed it up best, saying: "Thank God we got the point."
Brashear also scored, and Ohlund had two assists for the
Canucks, who avoided dropping into a three-way tie for last place in the Western Conference. The Canucks have 41 points, one more than Nashville and Chicago.
Jonas Hoglund had a goal and assist, and Igor Korolev also
scored for the Maple Leafs, 10-0-0 in games in which Korolev
scores. Toronto improved to 27-16-4, second best in the NHL.
Toronto appeared to have the game in hand when Sundin broke a
1-1 tie with a power-play goal with 7:02 left in the second. Thomas
made it 3-1 with 1:03 left in the frame and Korolev scored 8:57 into the third.
The Maple Leafs enjoyed their best offensive output in seven
games, dating to a 6-2 victory over Buffalo on Jan. 3.
Potvin, who faced 30 shots, is winless in his last six games
(0-5-1). He is 1-5-1 since being acquired by the Canucks last month from the New York Islanders.
Thomas considered the overtime goal among his most special.
Asked his secret to scoring in the extra period, he said: "I just love that feeling when you
score the goal. There's really nothing better than that. And I just want to be that guy."
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
 NHL East: Midseason report
RECAPS
Washington 6
Tampa Bay 3
Atlanta 3
Boston 3
Florida 3
Philadelphia 1
Colorado 2
Phoenix 0
New Jersey 5
Carolina 2
Chicago 5
San Jose 4
Toronto 5
Vancouver 4
Buffalo 5
Anaheim 0
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Steve Thomas scores the game-winning OT goal.
avi: 1079 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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