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BOX SCORE
KANATA, Ontario (AP) -- The Ottawa Senators tied its series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and gained some confidence in doing so.
|  | | Curtis Joseph couldn't believe he gave up Andreas Dackell's first goal of the 2000 playoffs in the second period. |
Andreas Dackell scored twice as the Senators beat the Maple
Leafs 2-1 Wednesday night to tie their first-round Eastern
Conference best-of-seven series at 2-2.
"Our confidence is a little better now than after our first two games," said Dackell, who scored his first two goals of the series on nearly identical 2-on-1 breaks.
Game 5 will be Saturday night in Toronto.
"It's a new series now," Dackell said. "It will be a great
battle on Saturday. We know they play better at home. It will be a
great series now."
Sergei Berezin scored with 3:50 remaining for the Leafs, who outshot the Senators 32-22 but were stymied by goalie Tom Barrasso.
The Leafs looked dominant in taking the opening two games at
home, but the tables were turned in Ottawa. Still, they hit three
goalposts in each game, coming within inches of a possible sweep.
"I thought we had a chance to win both games here," Leafs
captain Mats Sundin said. "We didn't play that badly tonight. We
just had two turnovers that cost us.
"What worries me is that when we're down a goal or two, we
don't have that momentum that was our strength all year to keep
coming at them."
It was another shaky night for Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph, who
accidentally knocked down referee Mick McGeough in Game 3 on Monday
while protesting interference on Rob Zamuner's winning goal.
With the capacity crowd of 18,500 chanting "Cujo, Cujo," the
Toronto goalie had only a minor outburst this time, when he left
the net to tackle Vaclav Prospal after Prospal entered the crease in the third period.
"I was just trying to retrieve my stick," Joseph said innocently. "Some guy shot it away."
The Senators were written off by many after the opening two
games, but the Maple Leafs expected a tough time in Ottawa, where
they are 1-4 this season.
"We were the last ones to think we'd win in four," said Leafs
forward Kris King, who saw his first action replacing injured center Nik Antropov. "This is no surprise to us.
"We just have to go home and use what we worked for all season -- home ice advantage."
Dackell had only 10 goals in 82 games this season, but elected
to shoot on both 2-on-1 breaks with more accomplished scorers -- Daniel Alfredsson and Joe Juneau.
Dackell opened the scoring 8:15 into the second period. He kept
the puck, stopped suddenly to let defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev
fall, and fired a wrist shot that trickled through Joseph's pads.
With the Leafs pressing in the third, Cory Cross fanned on a bouncing puck at the blue line, sending Dackell in. Again, he
elected to shoot, beating Joseph to the short side.
After a brawl and a few late shoving matches, Berezin broke in on the right side and blasted his second of the series past Barrasso.
Barrasso deflected praise for his stellar performance afterwards.
"Individual performances are vastly overrated," he said. "Playoff hockey is about winning games as a team. We played the way the Ottawa Senators are supposed to play."
Ottawa's tight checking frustrated the Maple Leafs most of the game.
"That's really this team's bread and butter," Barrasso said.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
Ottawa Clubhouse
RECAPS
Ottawa 2
Toronto 1
Washington 3
Pittsburgh 2
Detroit 3
Los Angeles 0
Phoenix 3
Colorado 2
San Jose 3
St. Louis 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Andreas Dackell's second goal was the game-winner.
avi: 966 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Tom Barrasso gets a little help from the post.
avi: 570 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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