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Sundin, Pohl score twice to lead Maple Leafs

Feb 18, 2007 - 4:40 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Captain Mats Sundin and John Pohl helped the Toronto Maple Leafs successfully roll back the clock to happier times.

Sundin and Pohl scored two goals apiece as the Maple Leafs posted a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Andrew Raycroft made 28 saves and defenseman Tomas Kaberle added two assists for Toronto, which moved two points ahead of the New York Islanders and Montreal for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"We're in a great playoff race and every two points count," said Raycroft, who stopped several shots in the closing seconds to preserve the victory. "(A 4-2 lead) feels comfortable, but it really isn't. Obviously, they get a power play and then it's 6-on-4 and, all of a sudden, you're grinding it to the end. We feel comfortable in those games now and we're more than happy to grind it out like that."

Four goals shy of matching Darryl Sittler's franchise record of 389, Sundin surely impressed the 1967 Stanley Cup championship team, which was honored during a pregame ceremony.

"It's nice to see that whole (1967 championship) team out there," Sundin said. "It was a great inspiration for our team and it helped us win the game tonight. It was a special night, even though it's always tough the first five or 10 minutes to get going after a long ceremony like that. I thought we settled down and played a pretty good hockey game."

The 1967 club was the last to bring a championship to Toronto.

"Shame on us if we have an event like that and then use it as an excuse for coming out slow," Toronto coach Paul Maurice said. "It's just fun to watch those guys. It was a really good feeling. I wouldn't put this as a normal event. If you had to stand there for an occasional retirement party that runs a little bit long, sometimes that's a little tough. But for something like this, it was awesome."

Sundin, who turned 36 on Tuesday, scored his 24th goal of the campaign on the power play 11:59 into the game. He beat goaltender Dwayne Roloson with a 31-foot wrist shot from the left faceoff circle off a perfect feed from Kaberle.

The Maple Leafs doubled their advantage 4:31 into the second period on Pohl's ninth tally, a tip-in off a nice feed from Bates Battaglia, and the 27-year-old completed his first career multi-goal game with 8:36 remaining in the session. The center followed the rebound of Chad Kilger's shot and beat Roloson to the stick side with an 11-foot backhander.

"It's pretty cool. I was just in the right place at the right time and got a couple lucky bounces," Pohl said. "Bates made a really smart play (on the first goal). I just kind of put my stick out and it was lucky, but it was the right thing to do to go to the front of the net. Good things happen if you go to the front of the net."

Toronto held a 3-2 edge when Sundin used his strength and agility to double the lead with 9:05 left in the contest. The center began the play by carrying the puck down the left wing boards and behind the net.

While shaking free of defenseman Steve Staios, Sundin went back to his right, cut quickly in front of the net and beat Roloson for what proved to be the winning tally.

"(Staios) gave me room to come back out front and I had the far post," Sundin said. "I was fortunate to stuff it into the far post. We have three big guys on our line and, with the new rules, we need to take advantage of that down low."

"That was an incredible move because of the size and the speed that it happened at," Maurice said. "I think the world of Steve Staios as a defenseman, but I don't think there was a whole lot he could do on that play. That was just an incredible move by an outstanding player."

Ryan Smyth tipped in a slap shot from the right point by Marc-Antoine Pouliot with 63 seconds left to halve the Oilers' deficit. But Edmonton could not get the equalizer as Raycroft kicked away a shot from in front of the net in the waning seconds by Shawn Horcoff and stopped a rebound attempt by Ales Hemsky.

"Raycroft made a good save on Horcoff at the end, and then he came back on Ales and made another good save," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said.

Staios also scored and Pouliot tallied on a penalty shot for the Oilers, who fell to 0-2-1 on their season-high seven-game road trip.

"We made quite a few mistakes tonight. You've got to be resilient enough to work through it," MacTavish said. "Frustration is not an emotion that helps you very often during the course of the game. Virtually every goal was preventable. We had some opportunities, but we didn't capitalize. We're squandering opportunities, but we haven't run out of opportunities."

Edmonton, which is 1-8-0 at Toronto since October 8, 1996, fell to 10-15-3 on the road this season with a league-low 58 goals.