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Bondra scores 500th goal as Blackhawks defeat Maple Leafs

Dec 23, 2006 - 6:08 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- It was a remarkably special evening for Chicago's Peter Bondra.

Bondra scored his 500th career goal, which turned out to be the game-winner, as the Blackhawks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1.

The right wing scored at 5:37 of the second period when he swooped in and banged a rebound of defenseman Jassen Cullimore's shot past Jean-Sebastien Aubin to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead.

"I wasn't sure what do to, it was like it was my first goal," Bondra said. "I thought I should start jumping or something. More important, it was a big goal for us, and I am glad I could score a big goal to win a game.

"It was a good play by Jassen Cullimore to shoot at the net. The puck hit one of their players, from there it just ended up on my stick. Sometimes goal scorers are just in the right place at the right time."

Aubin was surprised by how the goal was scored.

"The shot from the point hit one of our guys (Ben Ondrus) and I thought he had the puck and was going the other way," Aubin said. "All of a sudden it was on Bondra's stick and it's in. That's just how things are going right now."

After the goal, the Chicago fans stood in unison and gave Bondra a standing ovation.

"It was great from the fans, I didn't expect that much from them, and I really appreciated it," Bondra said. "Hopefully I can repay them by scoring some more big goals."

Bondra was signed by the Blackhawks on December 10 and has made his presence felt with two goals and two assists in six games.

Bryan Smolinski and defenseman Brent Seabrook also scored for the Blackhawks, who improved to 4-2-0 in their last six and 7-2-3 since Denis Savard was named coach on November 27.

Johnny Pohl scored the lone goal for Toronto, which lost center Michael Peca with a knee injury late in the first period when he collided with Chicago defenseman Jim Vandermeer.

Vandermeer was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

"My legs were together and I turned out of the way," Vandermeer said. "We did hit knee on knee, but it more him trying to get out the way than me throwing something out there to hit him."

"It's tough when you see a guy (Vandermeer) who can barely play in this league take out one of the best players in this league," Toronto center Jeff O'Neill said. "I don't know if he meant to do it or not, but this sucks for us."

Toronto coach Paul Maurice was also not happy with the hit.

"I do know it was a knee-on-knee hit," he said. "Our guy will be out a long time and their guy will probably be in the minors by the time our guy gets back."

The Maple Leafs, who fell to 3-7-1 in their last 11, were partially done in by an ineffective power play, which went 1-for-8.

"We didn't score," Maurice said. "We had three empty nets and couldn't put the puck in the net. The guys worked their asses off but we have to score. You are not going to win when you have that many chances on the power play and don't score."

Nikolai Khabibulin made 25 saves for Chicago while Aubin recorded 22 saves.