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GAME 5 JETS 1 TORONTO 3 Ed Belfour Ends Jets Win Streak With play that can only be described as spectacular, Ed Befour almost single handedly made sure the Jets fell short of winning 5 in a row. Stopping 34 of 35 shots, Belfour made save after glorious save, stopping several quality Jets scoring chances. Sebastien Caron made his second start of the season in net, stopping 23 of 25 shots. Caron also played a quality game, but his efforts were overshadowed by the lightning quick Belfour. 1st Period 02:02- TOR Domi (Unassisted) 16:35- WIN Lemieux (Unassisted) The period started in Toronto's favor and the momentum stayed that way for the remainder of the game. The first goal came only minutes into the first period. Tie Domi, a man who is not normally an offensive threat, was able to wrist the puck high and over the blocker hand of goaltender Caron. Domi was able to pick up the puck after the Jets cleared it from the zone, and brought it back over the blue line. Domi deked his way past two Jets defensemen and wristed the puck from the bottom of the left circle. The play could only be described as embarrassing for the Jets defenseman. 1-0 Leafs Both teams took multiple penalties in the period including a fight between Fata and Berehowsky at the 08:18 mark, and another between Tkachuk and Marchment at the 11:12 mark. Kolanos was also called for boarding and Fata for hooking. The Jets made up for their undisciplined play by stopping 2 Leafs power plays in the first and 4 for the game. The only time the Jets were able to get the puck past Belfour was on a breakaway chance by Lemieux. Mario was able to pick up the puck in the neutral zone after a check on Johansson. Streaking down the ice just in front of Marchment, Kaberle, and Antropov, Lemieux pulled the puck to the left, faking out the goaltender and put a backhander shot between the left post and Belfour's pad. 1-1 Tie 2nd Period 17:57- TOR Nieuwendyk Assisted by, Leetch, Nolan Both teams played hard coming into the second, and a few players found themselves flat on their backs, including Gary Roberts, who was hit simultaneously buy both Tverdovsky and Yushkevich in front of the net. Roberts did not come to a stop until he slid to the center of the right circle. Plan to see that hit on future hockey highlight films. Despite playing great positional defense, Tverdovsky and Yushkevich were not able to keep the Leafs down. At the 17:57 mark, after cycling the puck in the Jets zone, Nieuwendyk took a slapper from the point off a pass from Leetch, which caught the right pad of Caron and bounced into the net. 2-1 Leafs. Despite getting 2 power plays near the end of the period, the Jets were unable to convert, as Belfour made several diving saves on shots from Tkachuk and Lemieux. The period ended as Belfour dove out of net to cover up on a rebound shot from Lemieux on the power play. 3rd Period 19:39- TOR Roberts (SH) For the most part the 3rd period was uneventful until the last five minutes. The Winnipeg home crown began to chant for their team as the Jets came on strong, desperately trying to take the game into overtime. Once again Belfour came up huge on some key saves. As the Jets kept the pressure increasing, Belfour just seemed to play better, stoning Kolanos on a beautiful one-timer. It looked as if the Jets might get their chance after Tenkrat was called for roughing, after an over-aggressive hit on Koltsov with just 52 seconds remaining. The Jets were able to win the face-off in the Leafs zone, and Tkachuk set up Lemieux with a shot from the left side of the net as Belfour knocked the puck away with the blocker. Gary Roberts was able to pick up the rebound and wrist the puck from half- ice for the empty net goal with 21 seconds left. Leafs 3-1 "I think we played a quality game," said Jets assistant coach Justin Feddersen. "We made few mistakes and we did about everything we could out there. We just couldn't get a puck past Belfour." The Jets stay in second place of the Eastern Conference standings, 1 point behind Ottawa. Toronto gets their first win of the season, moving to a 1-4 record starting off the season. Toronto sits in last place of the Eastern Conference with 2 points. Injuries WIN Tverdovsky- Day or Two/ pinched nerve WIN Yushkevich- Day or Two/ bruised arm WIN Eastwood- Day or Two/ bruised leg |
| GAME RECAP |
| 1st Star- TOR Belfour 34 stops 1 GA |
| 2nd Star- TOR Nieuwendyk 1 Goal |
| 3rd Star- TOR Roberts 1 Goal |
| COMPARISON |
| Winn 35 1 21 13 0/2 |
| Team Shots Goals Hits PIM PP |
| Opponent 27 3 19 9 0/4 |
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