TORONTO -- From out of the lineup to the star of the game, Toronto Maple Leaf Walt Poddubny made fast gains in Game 6 of the Norris Division final.
Poddubny, benched earlier in the series, scored his fourth goal of the playoffs with 7:35 remaining Monday night to lift the Maple Leafs to a 5-3 triumph over the St. Louis Blues, forcing a seventh and deciding game in the Stanley Cup quarterfinal.
The combative Maple Leafs, who overcame three deficits of one goal, will travel to St. Louis for the finale of the best-of-seven Stanley Cup quarterfinal series Wednesday night.
Toronto finished 19th of 21 teams in the regular season with 57 points, 26 behind St. Louis and is now one game away from its first Stanley Cup semifinal berth since 1978. The Blues haven't reached the semifinal since 1972.
'A lot of guys are upset and that's a good sign,' Blues coach Jacques Demers said.
'Home ice does not make it automatic, but it's a help. They don't want to play golf and we don't want to play golf, either.'
The line of Poddubny, Miroslav Frycer and Peter Ihnacak -- sharp in an opening round sweep over Chicago but ineffective against the Blues - were given a pep talk in the morning by Toronto coach Dan Maloney.
'I didn't know whether I was playing or not,' said Poddubny, who sat out Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss. 'Basically, he (Maloney) said 'we need you guys going to be successful.' He was more or less giving us a kick in the butt.'
Poddubny's goal helped decide what had been a seesaw contest. The left winger accepted a rink-wide pass from Frycer and broke in alone to deke St. Louis goalie Greg Millen and tuck the puck into the open side while falling to the ice.
'As soon as I got the puck from Mirko (Frycer), I looked up and Millen was right on top of me, so it was the only play I had,' Poddubny said.
'I saw it go in and then I landed on my elbow. I thought my ribs were broken or something. It just knocked the wind out of me.'
Rookie Steve Thomas added three points for Toronto.
Thomas, with two goals and an assist in the game, had been frustrated by St. Louis goaltending throughout the series.
'I usually sleep before the game, but today I couldn't,' he said. 'I was thinking about what I would do if I had some chance. I decided I had better bury it (the puck).'
Dan Daoust sealed the victory with 44 seconds remaining when he backhanded a shot from deep in the Toronto zone.
Crafty Toronto forward Thomas -- with 13 points in the playoffs - had tied the score 3-3 with his second goal of the game and sixth of the playoffs at 1:16 of the final period. After St. Louis failed to clear the puck, Thomas took a feed from Tom Fergus and blasted a shot high over Millen's gloved hand.
The teams were evenly matched through the first two periods, but the opportunistic Blues emerged with a 3-2 edge on the strength of two goals by Doug Gilmour and another by Mark Hunter.
Hunter, the Blues' scoring leader during the regular season with 44 goals, provided St. Louis with its one-goal advantage late in the second period with his fourth goal of the playoffs. He cruised in untouched to whip a 20-foot slapshot high past Toronto goalie Ken Wregget's glove side.
Thomas had gained a 2-2 tie for Toronto at 9:18. He took a pass from Borje Salming inside the blueline, sped down the left side and unleashed a slapshot from the faceoff circle that overpowered Millen.
The Leafs' power play, the best in the playoffs entering the game with a 31.6 percentage, was 0-for-5 in the first 40 minutes. Millen was equal to the few chances Toronto managed to generate.
The Blues, powered by Gilmour, led 2-1 at the end of the first period.
Gilmour, the team's leading point-getter in the playoffs with 16, snapped a 1-1 deadlock with his seventh playoff goal 50 seconds remaining in the opening session. In a near carbon copy of his first goal of the game, heconverted a perfect pass in the slot from Bernie Federko, stationed behind the Toronto net.
The Maple Leafs, who did not manage a shot on the St. Louis goal in the opening 9 1/2 minutes, finally got untracked at 13:51 as a result of Thomas' playmaking skills.
Racing down the left side, Thomas waited for Millen to commit himself before shoveling a pass to Fergus, who directed the puck into the vacated net.
Gilmour opened the scoring on a power play at the 51-second mark with a low shot from Federko past Wregget's stick side.
The Leafs lost the services of stalwart right winger Rick Vaive early in the second period. Vaive, who has six playoff goals and was one of the club's best performers in the series, was sidelined with back spasms.
Poddubny, benched earlier in the series, scored his fourth goal of the playoffs with 7:35 remaining Monday night to lift the Maple Leafs to a 5-3 triumph over the St. Louis Blues, forcing a seventh and deciding game in the Stanley Cup quarterfinal.
The combative Maple Leafs, who overcame three deficits of one goal, will travel to St. Louis for the finale of the best-of-seven Stanley Cup quarterfinal series Wednesday night.
Toronto finished 19th of 21 teams in the regular season with 57 points, 26 behind St. Louis and is now one game away from its first Stanley Cup semifinal berth since 1978. The Blues haven't reached the semifinal since 1972.
'A lot of guys are upset and that's a good sign,' Blues coach Jacques Demers said.
'Home ice does not make it automatic, but it's a help. They don't want to play golf and we don't want to play golf, either.'
The line of Poddubny, Miroslav Frycer and Peter Ihnacak -- sharp in an opening round sweep over Chicago but ineffective against the Blues - were given a pep talk in the morning by Toronto coach Dan Maloney.
'I didn't know whether I was playing or not,' said Poddubny, who sat out Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss. 'Basically, he (Maloney) said 'we need you guys going to be successful.' He was more or less giving us a kick in the butt.'
Poddubny's goal helped decide what had been a seesaw contest. The left winger accepted a rink-wide pass from Frycer and broke in alone to deke St. Louis goalie Greg Millen and tuck the puck into the open side while falling to the ice.
'As soon as I got the puck from Mirko (Frycer), I looked up and Millen was right on top of me, so it was the only play I had,' Poddubny said.
'I saw it go in and then I landed on my elbow. I thought my ribs were broken or something. It just knocked the wind out of me.'
Rookie Steve Thomas added three points for Toronto.
Thomas, with two goals and an assist in the game, had been frustrated by St. Louis goaltending throughout the series.
'I usually sleep before the game, but today I couldn't,' he said. 'I was thinking about what I would do if I had some chance. I decided I had better bury it (the puck).'
Poddubny, who sat out Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss in St. Louis because of his substandard form, put an end to what had been a see-saw battle. The left winger accepted a rink-wide pass from Miroslav Frycer and broke in alone to make a deke around St. Louis goalie Greg Millen and tuck the puck into the open side while falling to the ice.
Dan Daoust sealed the victory with 44 seconds remaining when he backhanded a shot from deep in the Toronto zone.
Crafty Toronto forward Thomas -- with 13 points in the playoffs - had tied the score 3-3 with his second goal of the game and sixth of the playoffs at 1:16 of the final period. After St. Louis failed to clear the puck, Thomas took a feed from Tom Fergus and blasted a shot high over Millen's gloved hand.
The teams were evenly matched through the first two periods, but the opportunistic Blues emerged with a 3-2 edge on the strength of two goals by Doug Gilmour and another by Mark Hunter.
Hunter, the Blues' scoring leader during the regular season with 44 goals, provided St. Louis with its one-goal advantage late in the second period with his fourth goal of the playoffs. He cruised in untouched to whip a 20-foot slapshot high past Toronto goalie Ken Wregget's glove side.
Thomas had gained a 2-2 tie for Toronto at 9:18. He took a pass from Borje Salming inside the blueline, sped down the left side and unleashed a slapshot from the faceoff circle that overpowered Millen.
The Leafs' power play, the best in the playoffs entering the game with a 31.6 percentage, was 0-for-5 in the first 40 minutes. Millen was equal to the few chances Toronto managed to generate.
The Blues, powered by Gilmour, led 2-1 at the end of the first period.
Gilmour, the team's leading point-getter in the playoffs with 16, snapped a 1-1 deadlock with 50 seconds remaining in the opening session. In a near carbon copy of his first goal of the game, he converted a perfect pass in the slot from Bernie Federko, who was statoined behind the Toronto net. The goal was Doug Gilmour's seventh in post-season action.
The Maple Leafs, who did not manage a shot on the St. Louis goal in the opening 9 1/2 minutes, finally got untracked at 13:51 as a result of Thomas' playmaking skills.
Racing down the left side, Thomas waited for Millen to commit himself before shoveling a pass to Fergus, who directed the puck into the vacated net.
Gilmour opened the scoring on a power play at the 51-second mark. With Federko doing the digging behind the net, Gilmour slid a low shot from directly in front past Wregget's stick side.
The Leafs lost the services of stalwart right winger Rick Vaive early in the second period. Vaive, who has six playoff goals and was one of the club's best performers in the series, was sidelined with back spasms.
