Leafs’ Kaberle Scoring Points

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ most promising young defenseman had a big game a day after not being traded.

Tomas Kaberle had three points, including the tie-breaking goal with 1:07 remaining, as the Maple Leafs beat the Mighty Ducks, 3-2, Wednesday night.

“Tomas was unbelievable,” Toronto forward Jonas Hoglund said. “He did it all.”

Kaberle, whom Toronto refused to include in a potential deal for Philadelphia’s Eric Lindros a month ago, flicked a backhander past goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

“I’m an offensive player, and coaches are expecting me to do things,” Kaberle said. “This feels great.”

Toronto didn’t make any major deals before Tuesday’s trading deadline, and Coach-General Manager Pat Quinn has been impressed with the third-year player recently.

“Usually guys slump in their sophomore season,but he was good in his second season,” Quinn said. “It’s this season that he’s been up and down, but lately he’s been coming on. We know he has a good mind, and he’s been showing that lately.”

Paul Kariya scored twice for the Mighty Ducks, whose season-high five-game winning streak came to an end. Giguere posted back-to-back shutouts in the Ducks’ previous two victories Sunday and Tuesday.

Giguere’s shutout streak was snapped after 183 minutes 50 seconds. He made 26 saves.

“I have a lot to prove to the organization,” said Giguere, who won the starting job from Guy Hebert. “There are 10 games left. I want to be the No. 1 goalie next season.”

Kariya’s shot from the point--a power-play goal at 12:54 of the first period--gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead. After Toronto’s Curtis Joseph made a pad save on Pavel Trnka’s shot from the point late in the second, Kariya fired the rebound past Joseph.

Toronto finally solved Giguere with three seconds left in the second period when Gary Roberts flicked Steve Thomas’ centering pass off the post and in.

“Roberts’ goal really hurt us,” Kariya said. “It gave them momentum into the third.”

Toronto’s Yanic Perreault tied the score, 2-2, at 8:27 of the third after collecting a centering pass from Darcy Tucker.