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Islanders ride power play to win over Maple Leafs

Feb 15, 2008 - 4:27 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Ruslan Fedotenko and the New York Islanders turned on the power.

Fedotenko scored two of his team's four power-play goals and defenseman Bryan Berard added a tally and two assists as the Islanders edged the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4, on Thursday.

Mike Comrie also converted during a man advantage and added an assist, defenseman Freddy Meyer scored an empty-netter and Miroslav Satan and Josef Vasicek each recorded two assists for New York, which halted a four-game road skid and improved to 18-0-1 when leading after two periods.

"Our power play made some plays," Comrie said. "We got four goals right in front of the net. Our game-winner was an empty-netter, but that happens."

"Special teams are huge," Meyer added. "It gives a team a lot of momentum. ... This past week, we've turned the corner. We're working hard. This is a tough place to play, so it's good walking out with two points."

Matt Stajan and Alexei Ponikarovsky had a goal and an assist apiece and All-Star defenseman Tomas Kaberle set up a pair of tallies for the Maple Leafs, who began a season-high five-game homestand in losing fashion.

A former Maple Leaf, Berard got the power play started for New York with 3:48 remaining in the first period. From along the end line on the right side, Satan fired a pass into the crease that hit Berard's left skate and got past goaltender Vesa Toskala, giving the Islanders a 1-0 lead.

"We're moving it around and getting pucks to the net," Berard said. "It's one of those things. When this team gets hot on the power play, we have success."

Toronto rallied to move ahead with goals 90 seconds apart by Darcy Tucker and captain Mats Sundin midway through the second.

Tucker knotted the game when Stajan's pass attempt caromed off his skate in the right faceoff circle and past All-Star netminder Rick DiPietro at 7:51. Shortly thereafter, Sundin poked in a rebound in the crease for his 24th goal of the season.

It was the 547th career tally by Sundin, putting him one behind Michel Goulet for 23rd place on the all-time list.

The Islanders used their 24th-ranked power play to reel off the next three goals and take a 4-2 lead.

After Vasicek's shot from the left circle rang off the right goalpost, Fedotenko had an easy tap-in from the crease with 5:24 left in the period to forge a tie. Less than three minutes later, Comrie converted Satan's cross-crease pass during a 2-on-1 rush to give New York a 3-2 edge.

Fedotenko doubled the lead at 4:29 of the third period, sweeping in the rebound of Berard's slap shot from above the left circle as Maple Leafs defenseman Hal Gill stood and watched.

"We had four power-play goals. It was unbelievable," Fedotenko said. "They take a couple of penalties and we take advantage of it."

New York finished 4-for-7 on the power play against Toronto, which is ranked 29th on the penalty kill at home.

"Our power play was huge," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "The last four or fives games, we're starting to play the way we're capable of playing. The last few games, we've been competing, which is all we can control."

"You can't kill them (penalties), you can't take them and they were scoring on them tonight," Stajan said.

The Islanders also were effective while shorthanded, successfully killing four of the Maple Leafs' five power-play attempts.

"Our PK has done a great job all season," Nolan said. "We didn't have three of our top defensemen in, and the guys stepped up."

Stajan got the Maple Leafs within 4-3 with a man-advantage goal midway through the period, but Meyer restored the two-goal bulge with 53 seconds remaining.

Ponikarovsky capped the scoring with his 14th tally at 19:41.

DiPietro made 27 saves, while Toskala turned aside 24 shots in his first career appearance against the Islanders.

With the loss, Toronto fell to 3-5-1 in its last nine games and into last place in the Eastern Conference.

"For ourselves right now, we still have to play," Ponikarovsky said. "You can't just give up. For us, we have to get ready for the next game."