By TOM CANAVAN, AP Sports Writer
April 1, 2003
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Ed Belfour reached another milestone in a career that will go down as one of the greatest for a goaltender.
Belfour became only the seventh NHL goaltender to win 400 regular-season games when the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on a goal by Tomas Kaberle in overtime.
``Quiet frankly, 400 is a ton,'' Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn said. ``Eddie is a top guy in that category.
``He's had a marvelous career. I'm sure it's a wonderful milestone for him. Hopefully there are lots more for him.''
Belfour joins Patrick Roy, Terry Sawchuk, Jacques Plante, Tony Esposito, Glenn Hall and Grant Fuhr in the 400-club.
``This is definitely up there,'' Belfour said. ``It's something I feel honored about and I'm thankful that I'm on the Toronto Maple Leafs with a great group of guys who play well in front of me. I owe it all to them.''
He had to work to get this one. The 37-year-old goalie made 38 saves, including a great chance in close by Scott Gomez in overtime.
Belfour won for the 36th time this season, pushing his career mark to 400-262-105 in 15 seasons.
``He's been successful for a long time and it's nice for him to have that,'' Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur said. ``Winning a lot of games means a lot for a goaltender, especially when you reach milestones like that.''
Kaberle also set up goals by Wade Belak and Mats Sundin as the Maple Leafs won their third straight and ended the Devils' seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2).
Jamie Langenbrunner, who played with Belfour in Dallas, and Jeff Friesen also scored for New Jersey, which rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to force the overtime.
``I was fortunate enough to play with him for a few years,'' said Langenbrunner, who tied the game at 2 in the second period. ``He was a big reason we won the Stanley Cup and came close in other years.
``I have good memories of playing with Eddie. He's a good man.''
Coupled with Philadelphia's win over Columbus, the first-place Devils now lead the Flyers by one point in the Atlantic Division. New Jersey has played one fewer game and it has two more wins should the teams finished tied in points.
Jonas Hoglund set up the winner 2:16 into overtime by keeping a pass by Devils defenseman Richard Smehlik in the New Jersey zone. He sent a pass to Robert Reichel and he found Kaberle coming down the left side.
Kaberle's shot from the faceoff circle beat Brodeur, who had 21 saves.
``They turned it over on the blue line,'' Kaberle said. ``Hogie and Bobby did a pretty good job. Bobby gave me the puck and I just had to shoot it to the net.''
Langenbrunner tied the game at 2 with a goal against the NHL's best penalty-killing team. He took a pass from Friesen, skated into the high slot and beat Belfour with a shot inside the goalpost at 12:59 of the second period.
Friesen had cut the Maple Leafs' 2-0 lead in half midway in the first period. Joe Nieuwendyk did most of the work, carrying the puck into the Toronto zone and getting a shot on goal. Langenbrunner and defenseman Scott Niedermayer poked at the loose puck before Friesen put it into an open net.
Toronto took a 2-0 lead in the opening 5:40.
Belak, a defenseman playing as a forward, deflected a shot from the point by Kaberle past Brodeur for his third goal of the season and two in as many games.
Toronto went on the power play a little less than two minutes later, and it needed only 50 seconds to convert.
Sundin got the rebound of Robert Svehla's shot and scored, but just barely. Brodeur gloved the puck with a nifty behind-the-back grab and pulled it out of the net in a split second. Referee Don VanMassenhoven immediately signaled a goal and a replay confirmed his call.
Brodeur kept the Devils in the game in the first period, stopping Tie Domi and Alexander Mogilny in close and getting a little lucky when Sundin hit thepost on a one-on-one chance. Notes Toronto won the season series 3-1. ... Belak had four career goals in 237 games before scoring twice in his last two games. ... Devils captain Scott Stevens celebrated his 39th birthday. ... Sundin now has 299 career goals as aMaple Leaf, tying him with Rick Vaive for fourth in team history.
Updated on Tuesday, Apr 1, 2003 11:14 pm, EST
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