Joseph’s Strong Goaltending Helps Maple Leafs Even Series

It didn’t take the Buffalo Sabres long to find out the real Curtis Joseph was back in the Toronto goal Tuesday night.

Midway through the first period, Stu Barnes broke in alone on Joseph in a bid to score the game’s first goal. But Joseph smothered the hard shot, and less than two minutes later the Leafs had a 2-0 lead and were on their way to a 6-3 victory that squared the Eastern Conference finals at a game apiece.

It was sweet revenge for Joseph, who was beaten for five goals on 21 shots in Buffalo’s 5-4 win in Sunday’s opener.

“You want to make those saves early,” said Joseph, who finished with 30 stops. “You want to give your team confidence.”

Steve Sullivan and defenseman Sylvain Cote staked Toronto to a 2-0 lead with goals 18 seconds apart, and this time the Leafs didn’t wilt as they did Sunday.

“Joseph was his old self tonight,” said Garry Valk, who scored the game’s final goal into an empty net in the last minute. “He was moving the puck well, yelling, and doing a lot of talking. He was a big boost.”

The Leafs sent an early message to Buffalo goalie Dwayne Roloson, who was subbing for the injured Dominik Hasek for the second consecutive game.

Sullivan was called for goaltender interference 4:28 into the game as Toronto seemed intent on rattling Roloson.

Despite several standout saves in the opening minutes, the 29-year-old goalie fell victim to a flurry of shots at 10:28. Sullivan slammed home a rebound from in front of the goal crease after Roloson had stopped close-in shots by Daniil Markov and Mike Johnson.

After the ensuing faceoff, Cote got behind the Buffalo defense, took a perfect feed from Mats Sundin, and beat Roloson on a breakaway at 10:46.

“We got off to a good start,” said Joseph, who gave up three power-play goals. “‘Our defense let me see the shots.”

Jason Woolley pulled the Sabres within 2-1 with a screened shot that sailed past Joseph at 10:03 of the second. But hopes of a Buffalo comeback seemed to vanish just over five minutes later after an icing call against the Sabres. Yanic Perreault won the ensuing faceoff deep in Buffalo ice and got the puck to Sergei Berezin in front of the goal, and he flipped it past Roloson at 15:25 for a 3-1 lead.

Roloson faltered again at 1:57 of the third when Perreault slipped a backhander past him from a severe angle near the edge of the right circle for a 4-1 Toronto lead.

But the Sabres weren’t finished. Barnes capitalized on two penalties to Cote and scored power-play goals at 6:53 and 9:47 to narrow the Toronto lead to 4-3.

“We’re a hard-working team and we take pride in that,” Barnes said. “Even though we were down 4-1, we wanted to try to win and we continued to battle. It’s disappointing to come that close.”

NHL Notes

Dallas left wing Benoit Hogue will sit out the remainder of the playoffs after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Game 2 of the Western Conference finals with Colorado. Hogue, 32, who contributed two assists in 12 postseason games, was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning before the trading deadline. . . . Jack Diller, president of the Nashville Predators, had quadruple-bypass surgery at Nashville. Diller, 60, had the surgery Monday at St. Thomas Hospital and is now in a critical care unit.