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Tucker's goal lifts Maple Leafs past Bruins

Feb 17, 2008 - 4:34 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Darcy Tucker scored his second goal of the game with 81 seconds remaining in overtime as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Boston Bruins, 4-3, on Saturday in a battle of "Original Six" rivals.

Dominic Moore and Nik Antropov also scored for Toronto, which snapped a two-game skid and improved to 4-5-1 in its last 10 games.

"Every point is big for us right now," said Tucker, who helped the Maple Leafs (24-27-9) climb within seven points of the eighth-place Bruins (29-23-6) and Buffalo Sabres (28-22-8) in the Eastern Conference.

Glen Murray and All-Star defenseman Zdeno Chara each had a goal and an assist and blue-liner Dennis Wideman also tallied for Boston, which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.

"I thought we got ourselves into some penalty trouble and we were able to give up our lead," Bruins Coach Claude Julien said. "Hopefully, at the end of the year, we can talk about how we came back and got that point at the end and how important it was for us."

After Chara scored with 50 seconds remaining in the third period to force overtime, Tucker ended the contest by netting his sixth goal in five games. By comparison, the 32-year-old had six tallies in his previous 46 contests.

In overtime, All-Star defenseman Tomas Kaberle led a 3-on-2 rush up the left wing before finding Tucker on the doorstep for his 12th goal of the season.

"You're able to get a few goals and then your confidence level rises, which is what's happened the last couple of weeks," Tucker said. "A lot of guys go through that kind of thing in their careers and it's been very difficult, so it's nice to get some goals to help us win."

After Tucker and Antropov scored 1:51 apart to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 lead late in the third, Chara evened the contest with his 10th tally.

With Boston pressing to net the equalizer, goaltender Vesa Toskala thought he had the puck under control. But Chara alertly found it loose in the crease and fired it into the back of the net to tie the game at 3-3.

"I charged the net and saw it loose and just poked at it," Chara said.

Murray opened the scoring 5:48 into the first period, accepting a centering feed from P.J. Axelsson and wristing a shot past Toskala for his 12th goal of the season.

Moore leveled the contest nearly five minutes later with his third of the campaign.

After Boston committed a costly turnover in its own end, Kaberle wristed a shot from the left point that was redirected by Boyd Devereaux and hit Chad Kilger's skates. Moore was able to corral the puck and beat All-Star netminder Tim Thomas from in close to tie the game at 1-1.

"Every guy in here is aware that we need to put together a four- or five-game winning streak, so this win is very important," Moore said.

Wideman regained the lead for Boston with 85 seconds remaining in the second period.

During a power play, the defenseman wristed a shot past a screened Toskala for his eighth goal of the season. The tally gave the Bruins a 2-1 advantage despite having been outshot, 12-3, in the session.

"You have to give it to Toskala," Murray said. "He kept them in the game in the first period. We had a lot of chances and should have led 3- or 4-0, and that gave them a chance to fight back."