It’s a Narrow Victory for Belfour and Maple Leafs

Ed Belfour made 34 saves to move into a tie for second place on the NHL’s career victory list, and Bryan McCabe scored on a five-on-three power play midway through the third period in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Monday night.

The 40-year-old Belfour has 447 victories to match Terry Sawchuk for second place on the list. Patrick Roy is the leader with 551.

McCabe’s slap shot from just above the right circle beat Roberto Luongo to the high stick side at 10:18 of the third with Florida’s Gary Roberts and Juraj Kolnik in the penalty box.

It was McCabe’s 10th goal, adding to his league-leading points total (33) for defensemen.

Stephen Weiss’ power-play goal tied the score at 1-1 with 1:33 left in the second period. Weiss dived for a rebound of Lukas Krajicek’s shot and put the puck past Belfour for his seventh goal.

Darcy Tucker gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead with his ninth goal at 11:59 of the second period. Positioned all alone to Luongo’s left, Tucker put home a pass that deflected off Jeff O’Neill’s stick.

Tucker has scored in three of his last four games.