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March 8, 2003
TORONTO (AP) -- Todd Bertuzzi took some of the luster off Owen Nolan's debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Nolan scored twice in his first game for Toronto as the Maple Leafs tied Vancouver 3-3 on Saturday night, with Bertuzzi scoring two goals and adding an assist.
Nolan, acquired Wednesday from San Jose, gave Toronto a 2-1 lead in first and a 3-1 lead early in the third.
Bertuzzi cut Toronto's lead to 3-2 at 6:04 of the third when he scored his 38th goal of the season off a rebound as he was being checked to the ice. He later assisted on Henrik Sedin's tying goal.
``Todd's the reason why we got a point tonight,'' Vancouver's Markus Naslund said.
Nolan, standing in front of the net, tipped Robert Reichel's shot from the point past goalie Peter Skudra at 18:19 of the first. Fans chanted ``Nolan!' Nolan!'' after he redirected Mikael Renberg's pass, giving Toronto a 3-1 lead at 2:26 of the third.
``It was nice to get that first one. It would have been nice to get a win, but I guess a tie is a point,'' Nolan said
Nolan, who has 24 goals and 20 assists, received a loud ovation when introduced as a starter. The 31-year-old power forward played on a line with Nik Antropov and Renberg.
``He looked very comfortable as a Maple Leaf,'' Toronto captain Mats Sundin said. ``There's no doubt he's going to be a great asset for us as we finish the regular season and go into the playoffs.''
Shayne Corson also scored for the Maple Leafs, who tied the Canucks despite being outshot 33-19.
``Nolan had a good game. He knocked a couple in and he played his power game,'' Toronto general manager and coach Pat Quinn said. ``We had a lot of other guys that weren't very effective tonight.''
Corson deflected Wade Belak's shot from the point, giving Toronto a 1-0 lead at 5:31 of the first.
Just 29 seconds later, Bertuzzi tied it as he charged toward the net and received a nice pass from Brendan Morrison.
``We got an All-Star performance from Todd tonight. He found a way to get a point out of this game,'' Vancouver coach Marc Crawford said.
Nolan then tipped Reichel's point shot past Skudra, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Nolan pumped his first and touched gloves with his new teammates on the bench.
Vancouver outshot Toronto 9-1 in the second, but couldn't score.
Nolan made it 3-1 after skating around a defenseman and passing to Renberg, who returned the pass as Nolan skated to the side of the net.
Sedin tied at 3, redirecting Ed Jovanovski's centering pass at 10:43 of thethird. Notes The Maple Leafs acquired Nolan from the Sharks in exchange for center Alyn McCauley, top prospect Brad Boyes and a first-round draft pick in Quinn's biggest trade since becoming general manager four years ago. ... The addition of Nolan allowed Quinn to move Alexander Mogilny back to the top line withSundin and Gary Roberts. ... The Canucks were 1-for-7 on the power play.
Updated on Saturday, Mar 8, 2003 11:15 pm, EST
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