Maple Leafs Rally and Tie Blues

The way the Toronto Maple Leafs can score, falling behind two goals usually isn’t a problem.

It wasn’t Monday night, as the Maple Leafs spotted the St. Louis Blues a two-goal lead and rallied for a 2-2 tie at Toronto.

The tie moved St. Louis within two points of the Mighty Ducks for the No. 5 position in the Western Conference playoffs.

“The first three shifts of the game we gave on three two-on-ones,” Toronto Coach Pat Quinn said. “I don’t know why that is, but the score could have been 3-0. It’s just an excuse, but it’s tough traveling back through three time zones and not being able to practice before your next game.”

The Maple Leafs completed a perfect three-win Western Canada trip with a victory in Calgary on Saturday. They also had wins in Edmonton and Vancouver.

The Maple Leafs lead the NHL with 249 goals, but have also given up 220.

Lubos Bartecko and Pierre Turgeon, with his 30th goal, scored in the opening six minutes to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead. The Maple Leafs eventually came to life and scored two third-period goals to earn the tie and extend their unbeaten streak to six games.

Mats Sundin and Bryan Berard scored 2:11 apart early in the third period and goalie Curtis Joseph was spectacular in the overtime to help the Maple Leafs get the tie.

St. Louis’s Jamal Mayers was stymied by Joseph from point-blank range on two occasions, with one minute remaining in regulation time and midway through overtime.

“The save in overtime was a bang-bang play,” Joseph said. “I was just happy to see it stay out.”

The Maple Leafs killed a St. Louis power play in the final minutes of the third period as Joseph stopped three Al MacInnis drives from the point.

“[Joseph] is quick at getting back up and standing in there,” MacInnis said. “I tried to get the shots over his shoulders, but he was there.”

Ottawa 4, Tampa Bay 4--Magnus Arvedson had a short-handed goal as the Senators extended their road unbeaten streak to seven games at Tampa, Fla.

Buffalo 3, Pittsburgh 1--The Sabres, who are struggling to hold on to the No. 7 playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with Boston, got goals from Dixon Ward, Jason Woolley and an empty-netter from Richard Smehlik in a victory at Buffalo, N.Y.

Boston 3, Montreal 0--Byron Dafoe got his league-leading 10th shutout and second in a row as the Bruins won at Boston.

New York Rangers 5, Philadelphia 1--Chris Tamer scored his first goal in more than two years and Mike Richter stopped 36 shots as the Rangers won at Philadelphia.

Washington 3, Florida 0--Brian Bellows scored a power-play goal and Olaf Kolzig notched his fourth shutout in the Capitals’ win at Sunrise, Fla.

Chicago 2, Vancouver 1--Eric Daze scored twice to reach the 20-goal plateau for the fourth time in his four full NHL seasons as the Blackhawks extended the Canucks’ losing streak to four at Chicago.