TORONTO - The numbers did not look promising.

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Toronto Maple Leafs Niklas Hagman (C) is congratulated by teammate Tomas Kaberle after scoring the game winning goal against the Washington Capitals in Toronto, November 21, 2009.

Photograph by : Reuters

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Prior to Saturday's game, the Toronto Maple Leafs had gone past regulation to settle six games this season. Each time they had lost. But with the players on the bench turning their helmets around backwards, the team's luck in overtime changed.

Led by shootout goals from Phil Kessel and Niklas Hagman, as well as a 31-save performance from Vesa Toskala, who picked up his first victory of the season, the Leafs defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 on Saturday night.

"It's nice to win. It's been a while," said Toskala, whose last victory was on Feb. 26. "Luck was on our side a little bit today. But I think we deserved it, because we played hard."

It was starting to sound redundant, but the Leafs needed to pick up two points in this game.

The team, which improved to 4-11-6, had lost five straight. And after blowing a 3-0 lead in a deflating 6-5 overtime shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, Toronto was ranked last in the overall standings.

With Toskala making a rare home appearance, it did not appear as though a win was possible.

The veteran goaltender, who entered the game with a 0-4-2 record, had not started at Air Canada Centre since Oct. 10. Upon stopping a dump-in attempt for his first save, the sold-out crowd gave him a sarcastic cheer. But after the veteran goaltender was named the first star, the fans were more genuine with their applause.

"Outstanding. Outstanding," Leafs defenceman Ian White said of Toskala. "I can't say enough about him. He's been through a lot of adversity here and people have been on him. To keep focused and battle through it all and finally get this win - it was a long time coming."

For Toskala, it was the type of performance that has been missing this season.

Heading into Saturday's game, he was still searching for his first win. And his goals-against average (4.26) and save percentage (.854) were among the worst in the league.

But with Jonas Gustavsson having allowed five goals on 45 shots against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, it was Toskala's chance to play. And he more than proved he was deserving of the opportunity.

Toskala, who stopped 19-of-20 shots in the opening 20 minutes, was lying on his back when he robbed Alex Ovechkin with a glove save in the first period. He then slid across the crease and got his pad on a one-timer from Brooks Laich in the second. He then stopped Eric Fehr and forced Ovechkin to miss in the shootout.

"By far, that was the best Toskala has played in a long time," said Leafs head coach Ron Wilson. "And it was nice to see him finally get a win for all his hard work."

Still, Toskala could not stop them all.

There was less than three minutes remaining in the first period, when Ovechkin scored to give the Capitals took a 1-0 lead. Leafs head coach Ron Wilson was as much at fault as the players on the ice. That was because Toronto's fourth line, consisting of Jamal Mayers, Wayne Primeau and Colton Orr, matched up against Washington's top line.

Taking advantage of the difference in skill level, Ovechkin converted a three-on-two passing play from Laich and Mike Green for his 16th of the season.

"That was not their fault on the goal," Wilson said of his forwards. "That was late in their shift and they got caught out there."

With Toskala stopping all 10 shots he faced in the second period, the Leafs took advantage of a Capitals' lineup that had played the night before.

Hagman tied the game on a pinball-like goal that bounced off at least two different players before ricocheting in off Hagman's own arm. It seemed like it was the only way that the Leafs, who had averaged 2.6 goals per game, were going to beat Semyon Varlamov.

The Washington goaltender headed into the game with an impressive 2.08 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in his last eight games. His numbers in the overtime shootout were even more impressive. In three games, Varlamov had allowed just three goals on 17 shots.

Toskala headed into the shootout with a 7-13 record, having allowed 30 goals on 63 shots.

With the Toronto players wearing their "rally buckets," Kessel snuck a wrist shot past Varlamov on the shootout. Washington's Fehr then had his stick snap on his attempt. After Leafs forward Mitchell and Ovechkin both did not score, Hagman found the back of the net on a backhand deke.

"Those overtime games can mean the difference between making the post-season," said White, who could not help but think of where the Leafs would be had they picked up wins in all their overtime appearances.

"I don't know what the average is, but I'm sure you play between 10 and 15 overtime games each year. If you get that extra point in half of them, that's a couple of spots in the standings."

National Post

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