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Steen, Stajan help Maple Leafs blitz Bruins

Jan 5, 2007 - 5:38 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Toronto Maple Leafs proved they did not need leading goal scorer Darcy Tucker to complete a home-and-home sweep of the Boston Bruins.

Alex Steen recorded his first career hat trick and Matt Stajan had two goals and two assists as the Maple Leafs rolled to a 10-2 triumph over the Bruins.

Tucker, who leads the Maple Leafs with 19 goals, played in Toronto's 5-1 victory at Boston on Monday but sat out this one due to a continuing left foot problem.

John Pohl began the rout, Bates Battaglia scored twice and rookie Kris Newbury and Chad Kilger also tallied for Toronto, which netted five goals in the second period - including three in a 42-second span - after entering the session with a 2-1 deficit.

"It just seemed like one of those games where everything you shoot goes in, and nothing went in for Boston," Pohl said. "We played a bad first period and coach (Paul Maurice) let us know about it, and from there on out, we were great."

Battaglia tied the game at 2-2 just 96 seconds into the session, when he slapped the rebound of defenseman Ian White's shot from the left point past goaltender Tim Thomas.

Steen gave Toronto a 3-2 lead at 8:24 with his first goal, taking a pass from White and beating defenseman Andrew Alberts before flipping his own rebound by Thomas, who was crashed into after failing to control the puck.

The game was put away when Battaglia, Steen and Newbury all tallied in less than a minute later in the period for Toronto, which eclipsed its previous season high of nine goals set against the New York Rangers on December 16.

"We beat them, 5-1, on Monday and they came out with the edge," Maurice said. "They came out stronger and they banged, and we struggled with that in the first period. I thought our goalie bought us time there in the second to get our legs under us and we talked about the importance of the game and reiterated that between the first and second."

Steen completed his hat trick at 7:54 of the third period, just 26 seconds after Stajan netted his first of the contest.

"It's always nice getting points, and my first career hat trick was nice," Steen said. "It's definitely a confidence-builder and something I'm going to build off of. I like it tonight, but tomorrow it's back to work."

"Steen had a helluva game," Maurice added. "He has worked hard and he is in a position where he has to continue to work hard. There has never been a doubt of his talents. The other parts of his game were in question early in the year, and I think he's worked hard to improve that."

Steen's third tally also spelled the end of the night for Thomas, who was replaced by Philippe Sauve after yielding eight goals on 31 shots.

"The game got away from us by not doing what we're supposed to do," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "Obviously, it was very frustrating. I'm embarrassed. It's just hard to find the words. It was just a terrible performance by the whole team."

Former Bruin Andrew Raycroft made 29 saves and picked up an assist, Pohl set up a pair of goals and Boyd Devereaux added three assists for Toronto, which snapped a four-game skid against Boston with Monday's win.

Wayne Primeau scored a goal and set up the other for the Bruins, who have been outscored, 20-3, during their current three-game slide.

"We've given up five, five and 10 goals now," Bruins coach Dave Lewis said. "In the second period, we had some just fundamental breakdowns and they had some easy tap-in goals because of our coverage."

It was the first time Boston has allowed more than nine goals since losing, 10-5, to Pittsburgh on November 26, 1997.