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Saturday, Apr. 8 7:00pm ET
Maple Leafs finally hit century mark | |||||
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BOX SCORE
TORONTO (AP) -- The Toronto Maple Leafs completed their best regular season ever. Now they hope to end their playoff jinx. Mats Sundin had a goal and assist as Northwest Division champion Toronto tied the club record for wins and surpassed the 100-point mark for the first time by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 Saturday night. "Most of the teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the last 10 years have had 100 points," Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph said, "so the percentages show that you need at least 100 points to do something in the playoffs." The Leafs have won the second-highest number of Stanley Cup titles, 13 to Montreal's 23, but their last crown came in 1967. That was also the last time Toronto reached the Stanley Cup Finals. "This is pretty important for the franchise. It's never been done. It's nice to know I'll be one of those players to get to that 100-point mark," said Steve Thomas, who scored for Montreal. "The last couple games we've been working on our confidence level and build it for the first game of the playoffs." Toronto finished the regular season 45-30-7-3. The Leafs' previous high for points was 99, achieved in 1992-93 with a 44-29-11 record. The team reached the conference final that year. Nik Antropov and Darcy Tucker also scored for the hosts, and Joseph stopped 33 shots for his 36th win of the season, breaking his own club record. The game was meaningless in the standings for both teams. The Leafs had already wrapped up their division and will face Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs. "We'll be ready to go (against Ottawa)," Leafs coach-GM Pat Quinn said. The points total "doesn't do anything except give you a sense of accomplishment." The Lightning, who close the season on Sunday against Ottawa, will finish with the second-worst record in the NHL, ahead of only the expansion Atlanta Thrashers. Tampa Bay played without goalie Zac Bierk, who was taken to the hospital after a puck hit him in the throat during pre-game warmups. Dieter Kochan started for Bierk. Mike Johnson had a goal and an assist and Brian Holzinger had the other goal for Tampa Bay, which lost for the eighth straight time against Toronto. Antropov opened the scoring midway through the first period on an off-wing cut to the net from a bad angle, but Holzinger tied the score for Tampa Bay with 30 seconds to go in the period. Sundin gave the Leafs a 2-1 lead 5:04 into the second on a short-handed breakaway while holding off two Lightning players. The Leafs captain set up Thomas' 26th of the year with 5:25 left in the period. Tucker also scored in the second for the Leafs. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Tampa Bay Clubhouse Toronto Clubhouse RECAPS New Jersey 2 Florida 1
Toronto 4
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