Perreault Leads Maple Leafs, 4-2

A few weeks ago, Yanic Perreault was prepared to play out a frustrating season for the struggling Kings. Today, he’s a central figure in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ playoff plans.

Perreault scored all four Toronto goals as the Maple Leafs remained in contention for the Northeast Division title with a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night at Toronto.

Acquired from the Kings for minor-league forward Jason Podollan and a third-round draft pick March 23, Perreault has revived his career with the Maple Leafs. He has seven goals and 12 points in eight games with the Maple Leafs after only 10 goals and 27 points in 64 games with the Kings.

“It was one of those nights,” Perreault said of his first four-goal game in the NHL. “The team wins, I score four goals, it’s very special. I’ll remember this a long time.”

The Maple Leafs are chasing the Senators for the top spot in both the Northeast Division and the Eastern Conference. The victory moved Toronto five points behind the Senators heading into tonight’s rematch in Ottawa. The Maple Leafs have four games remaining while the Senators have five.

With the score tied, 1-1, and Toronto short-handed, Perreault beat Ottawa goalie Damian Rhodes for the go-ahead goal at 14:57 of the second period. Perreault put the Maple Leafs ahead, 3-1, at 5:12 of the third period on a pass from Sergei Berezin and made the score 4-2 at 11:03 when he deflected Sylvain Cote’s point shot.

“The big asset Yanic has is his head,” said Maple Leaf Coach Pat Quinn, who registered his 400th NHL coaching victory. “He was blessed with a good head and he knows where to go offensively and defensively.”

Edmonton 4, Calgary 2--Tom Poti scored with 45 seconds to play at Edmonton as the Oilers moved one point ahead of the Flames in the race for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference.

The Flames and Oilers play each other twice more this season. Both teams have five games remaining.

Boston 5, Florida 2--Anson Carter scored three goals at Sunrise, Fla., to help the Bruins clinch a playoff spot.

The Bruins’ fourth consecutive victory eliminated the New York Rangers from the playoff race.

Detroit 6, Vancouver 1--Steve Yzerman had two goals and an assist at Detroit as the Red Wings clinched their first Central Division championship in three years and extended their winning streak to eight games.

Colorado 4, Nashville 1--Peter Forsberg scored his fourth goal in three games and Chris Drury added three assists for the Avalanche at Denver.

St. Louis 4, Washington 2--Michel Picard scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:47 to play at Washington.

Montreal 2, Carolina 0--Jose Theodore made 27 saves at Montreal in the first shutout of his career.