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Blues rally to beat Maple Leafs in shootout

Oct 13, 2008 - 9:43 PM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Ryan Hollweg is making his presence felt for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it is not the kind of impact the team had hoped for.

Hollweg's five-minute major early in the second period helped the St. Louis Blues rally from a three-goal deficit and defeat the Maple Leafs, 5-4, in a shootout Monday.

"We're happy to get the win in a shootout today," St. Louis coach Andy Murray said. "Last year, we lost 13 games in a shootout. The Leafs had a player who made a poor decision and that was unfortunate for the them, but the Leafs played well for most of the game."

Andy McDonald and Brad Boyes beat Toronto goaltender Vesa Toskala in the bonus format as the Blues, playing their third game in four days, overcame a slow start.

Boyes scored a pretty goal, deking Toskala out of position and sliding the puck into an empty net.

"I was able to come down and make him (Toskala) think backhand and he kind of fell back and I caught him," said Boyes, who also scored in regulation.

St. Louis netminder Manny Legace stopped Pavel Kubina on the Maple Leafs' third shootout attempt to seal the victory.

During his two-plus seasons with the New York Rangers, Hollweg was known for his physical play but also his penchant for taking bad penalties.

He took another one when he was assessed a game misconduct 2:23 into the second period for attempting to injure Alex Pietrangelo on a boarding call.

Hollweg could be facing his second suspension in just three games with the Maple Leafs. He missed Toronto's first two games after receiving an automatic suspension for his third boarding or checking from behind major in a 41-game span during the preseason.

"After coming back from suspension, he has to be more careful where he is hitting because eyes are on him now," Legace said. "I think it was the right call from the referee."

The Maple Leafs dominated the first period, taking a 3-0 lead on goals by defenseman Tomas Kaberle, Nikolai Kulemin and Alexei Ponikarovsky.

But.Boyes got the Blues on the board 33 seconds into the second period, and the game turned after Hollweg's penalties. St. Louis tied it on power-play goals by Patrik Berglund and Keith Tkachuk 48 seconds apart.

"Ryan is a repeat offender," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. "You've got to put that aside and kill the penalty and they were able to get right back in the game."

"Anytime a player puts his team in a hole with a five-minute major, it's tough, and we took advantage," Tkachuk added. "Our power play is really good right now."

Toronto's Niklas Hagman made it 4-3 with six minutes left in the second, but the Maple Leafs failed to convert a 5-on-3 for 86 seconds left in the middle period. St. Louis pulled even again on Paul Kariya's goal 4:21 into the third.

The loss extended Toronto's home winless streak against St. Louis to eight games, dating to 1998.

"(Hollweg's) a hard-working guy who was forechecking hard and hit someone badly," Kaberle said. "He feels bad about it but we have to kill off that penalty, especially when we were trying to hold on to our lead."

Legace made 35 saves and Toskala turned aside 22 shots.