Controversy as Toronto Wins

Steve Thomas gave Philadelphia another reason to dislike him.

Thomas, maligned for a hard check in the second game of the series, scored the go-ahead goal Monday night as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Flyers, 2-1, at Philadelphia to take control of their first-round series.

The Maple Leafs took a 2-1 lead in the series despite getting outshot, 41-21, in a game marred by another racial accusation.

Philadelphia’s Sandy McCarthy accused Toronto’s Tie Domi of using a racial slur against him. Domi denied it, and NHL officials were looking into the accusation.

“He dropped an N-bomb on me,” said McCarthy, who squared off with Domi several times.

Domi denied it, and said that McCarthy, who is part black and part native American, spat in his face.

“He spit in my face, so maybe he was looking for some excuse,” Domi said. “I would never use those kind of words, and he knows that. He can say what he wants.”

Before a faceoff in the second period, McCarthy and Domi were trash-talking. McCarthy switched sides to be next to Domi, and they continued jawing.

Domi mocked McCarthy by shaking his knees and motioning his hands as if to encourage McCarthy to keep talking.

At the next stoppage, Domi skated away from a tussle in the corner, and McCarthy motioned to Domi and flapped his arms like a chicken. Domi merely rolled his eyes.

McCarthy said Domi used the slur before the faceoff. Referees and officials told McCarthy they “didn’t hear anything.”

The Flyers, playing without injured superstar Eric Lindros, are 5-11 in seven-game series in which they trail 2-1. Philadelphia has lost five of its last six home playoff games.

“It’s not the end of the world,” said Flyers forward John LeClair. “I mean, it’s still a long series and we’re still very much in it.”

Thomas was targeted early for a hard check on Eric Desjardins in the second game. But he shook off some of the hard runs the Flyers made at him, didn’t retaliate and scored the game-winner on a power play 40 seconds into the second period.

Carolina 3, Boston 2--There was disagreement over how the winning goal was scored. There was none about what it meant for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Their 3-2 victory night gave them a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Bruins.

The Bruins lost on a goal at 2:54 of the third period credited to Andrei Kovalenko. The goal was confirmed when video replay showed the puck entered the crease before Kovalenko’s skate got there.

Kovalenko said the puck never touched him, and Bruin goalie Pat Burns said it went off goalie Byron Dafoe’s glove. But Dafoe said he thought it hit Kovalenko’s skate.

The official scorer seemed to agree--if the puck didn’t hit Kovalenko, the goal should have been given to Robert Kron, who passed the puck from behind the goal line.

“In this series you can’t be fancy,” Kron said. “You just have to throw the puck at the net and take your chances.”

Goals by Carolina’s Gary Roberts and Ray Sheppard, who scored to win Game 2 in overtime, and Boston’s Sergei Samsonov and Anson Carter left the game tied after two periods.

Colorado 2, San Jose 1--Milan Hejduk scored 7:53 into overtime at San Jose as the Avalanche took a two-game advantage in the first-round playoff series. Hejduk was assisted by captain Joe Sakic.