• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Sundin sets club records as Maple Leafs trounce Islanders

Oct 12, 2007 - 3:45 AM By Jeff Lieberman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

TORONTO (Ticker) -- On an historic night for captain Mats Sundin, Matt Stajan and the Toronto Maple Leafs had redemption on their minds.

Two days after getting embarrassed by the Carolina Hurricanes, Stajan recorded a goal and three assists as the Maple Leafs rolled to an 8-1 triumph over the New York Islanders on Thursday.

In the victory, Sundin became the franchise leader in goals and points, passing Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler in both categories with a tally in the third period.

"It's nice to get it over with in the start of the season," Sundin said. "It's important to focus on winning hockey games, and that's what we've got to do."

Toronto came out with much more intensity than in its 7-1 loss on Tuesday, recording 15 shots in the first period and 12 more in the middle session. It built a 2-0 lead less than eight minutes into the contest on tallies by Nik Antropov and defenseman Ian White and never looked back.

"We know we have a great team here and we have to bring it every night," said Toronto's Alex Steen, who had a goal and an assist. "Tuesday was a flat night for us, but right after the game, you knew, you could tell on everybody's faces that come Thursday, the Islanders are going to have a tough night. I thought we went out, we worked hard, we did the little things right that we wanted to change."

The Islanders halved the deficit on a power-play goal by Ruslan Fedotenko with 6:17 to go in the first, but defenseman Tomas Kaberle began a string of six consecutive tallies by the Maple Leafs at 7:15 of the second that put away the game.

Stajan netted a shorthander and Steen scored on a breakaway in the final minute of the session. Defenseman Andrew Wozniewski tallied 2 1/2 minutes into the third to make it 6-1, but the biggest ovation came at 9:54, when Sundin secured a few spots in the franchise's record book.

Needing one goal and one point to pass Sittler for first place in club history in both categories, Sundin accomplished the feat when his backhand pass attempt from along the left wing boards caromed off New York defenseman Brendan Witt and past goaltender Wade Dubielewicz.

"I've been fortunate to play for a great organization all these years and you see the way the league is now, not too many guys get a chance to play for an organization this long," said Sundin, who has been with Toronto since the start of the 1994-95 season.

"A big thanks from my end to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, all the players I've played with over the years that have given me all these points that I've had and, most importantly, the fans sticking with this team that hasn't won a championship since '67."

Sundin, who has 390 tallies and 917 points as a Maple Leaf, was given an assist on Kaberle's goal, drawing a raucous ovation from the crowd at the Air Canada Centre. But the point was correctly removed early in the third period, forcing the fans to again erupt when Sundin tallied.

"Not too many times you can get two ovations in one night," Toronto's Darcy Tucker said. "It's thrilling to be able to be a part of it, but at the same time get to be a part of a big victory in a bounce-back game for us."

Simon Gamache, who also had an assist, capped the scoring with a power-play goal later in the final session.

Tucker and defenseman Pavel Kubina had two assists apiece and Andrew Raycroft made 30 saves for Toronto, which snapped a three-game losing streak against New York.

"You've got to enjoy yourself when you have nights like this," Stajan said. "And having Mats break the record. All teams have nights like this, and the main thing is, we got the win. Razor played well in net, and now we've got to come back, we've got a big game (against Pittsburgh) on Saturday."

Antropov opened the scoring during a power play at 2:51 of the first period, deflecting Kubina's slap shot from the right point past Dubielewicz for his third goal of the season. White doubled the lead at 7:49, beating the netminder with a blast from the left point after Stajan won a faceoff in the left circle.

Fedotenko drew New York within 2-1 later in the session, tipping defenseman Bruno Gervais' wrister from the blue line by Raycroft. But Kaberle received a pass from former Islander Jason Blake and deked Dubielewicz before sliding in a backhander in the second period to begin the Maple Leafs' rout.

Stajan fired the puck between Dubielewicz's pads from the left circle with 2:27 left in the session, and Steen capitalized on New York defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron's turnover at the blue line with 39 seconds to go, pushing the advantage to 5-1.

"Tonight, the puck was following me and it was just going in the net," Stajan said. "It's just the way the game goes sometimes. ... But the only thing that matters is that we responded big time on home ice."

Despite allowing eight goals, Dubielewicz did make 34 saves for the Islanders, who surrendered only nine tallies over their first four games.

"We just weren't ready," New York's Sean Bergenheim said. "There's no reason for it, why we played the way we played. Maybe were were too happy about the win (over the New York Rangers on Wednesday). That's something that should never happen."

Islanders captain Bill Guerin did not want to hear any suggestions the Islanders were exhausted from playing for the second time in as many nights.

"We were brutal tonight," Guerin said. "It's too early in the season to be putting 'tired' on us. We played bad, that's it."