NHL ROUNDUP : Andreychuk Regains Touch in Toronto Victory

It only took 22 seconds for Maple Leafs power-play specialist Dave Andreychuk to rediscover his scoring touch.

It was about time. He’d scored only one goal in his previous nine games.

Andreychuk’s two quick goals opened the scoring and Toronto, scoring on each of its first five manpower advantages, went on to hammer San Jose, 7-3, in Toronto ending the Sharks’ 5-0-1 run.

“This was a real big game for this team,” said Andreychuk, whose favorite spot on the ice is two strides in front of the opponent’s goaltender. “We’ve got a lot of games at home in the next little while and we have to set the standard right now that this is going to be a tough place for other teams to get a win.

“It’s good to start it off with a victory.”

It was the beginning of a stretch in which Toronto plays 14 of 17 games at home.

Terry Yake, Dave Ellett and Mats Sundin also scored on the power play and Doug Gilmour added two even-strength goals. Rookie defenseman Kenny Jonsson tied a club record for most assists in a period with three in the first.

“It was just a matter of time before we started putting the puck in the net,” Gilmour said after Toronto’s biggest offensive display of the season. “We’re going to be home for a while and we have to work on things because we can’t be complacent by no means.”

Jamie Baker scored twice and Jeff Norton once for the Sharks, who produced uncharacteristically weak penalty killing. Entering the game, San Jose had successfully killed 33 of 36 power plays for a league-best 91.6 percent rating. Toronto was 5 for 6 on power plays.

Toronto drove Arturs Irbe from the Shark nets for the first time this season.

“Arturs certainly wasn’t to blame,” said Shark Coach Kevin Constantine. “He wasn’t as sharp as he’s been and our penalty killing was off. Those were the two biggest things about the game.”

Wade Flaherty replaced Irbe at the start of the second period.

“They’re a different hockey club when you can get a lead on them,” Ellett said. “You force them to open up and they can’t play their tight defensive system, and that’s what happened tonight.”

Yake, obtained from the Mighty Ducks for David Sacco last September, scored his first goal in a Toronto uniform at 17:59. Mike Ridley banged a shot off a post and the carom struck Irbe in the back and dribbled to Yake, who was all alone on the other side of the crease.

Ottawa 3, Philadelphia 0--Goalie Don Beaupre stopped 34 shots, including a penalty shot, as host Ottawa registered its first shutout in franchise history.

It also was the Senators’ first victory of the season.

Beaupre now has blanked the Flyers three times in his career. He also shut them out when he played for Minnesota and Washington.

Alexandre Daigle, Alexei Yashin and Troy Murray scored for Ottawa (1-6-2), but it was Beaupre’s show in front of 9,267--the smallest Civic Centre gathering since Ottawa entered the league in 1992.

Winnipeg 5, Calgary 4--Dallas Drake’s goal with 18 seconds left capped a six-goal third period and gave the Jets their first road victory of the season as the Jets upset the host Flames.

Winnipeg’s Teemu Selanne had tied the score with his second goal of the game 3 1/2 minutes earlier.

Nelson Emerson and Igor Ulanov also scored for the Jets, who were winless in three previous road games. Ulanov’s goal tied the score, 3-3, in the third period.

The winning goal was Drake’s third of the year. The first two came in a 3-3 tie with the Flames on Jan. 20.