Raycroft Leads Maple Leafs to Win

NEW YORK (AP) _ Andrew Raycroft is getting his rest, just not on game days. The way he and the Toronto Maple Leafs are rolling, no one is complaining about the netminder's workload. Raycroft made 37

Thursday, February 1st 2007, 5:50 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Andrew Raycroft is getting his rest, just not on game days. The way he and the Toronto Maple Leafs are rolling, no one is complaining about the netminder's workload. Raycroft made 37 saves Wednesday night and carried the Maple Leafs to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers in his 13th straight start.

``One minute after the game it's satisfying, and I am glad about the way I'm playing. But by now, it's gone,'' Raycroft said.

Not since Jean-Sebastien Aubin started on Dec. 29 in Pittsburgh has Raycroft taken a day off. And just once in his streak has he left a game before the end.

Aubin relieved him for a period on Jan. 20 after Raycroft allowed five goals on 21 shots, again at Pittsburgh.

Outside of that, Raycroft has been on top of his game. He has won five of six _ including four on the road _ and allowed only seven goals in the victories. That has vaulted the Leafs into a three-way tie for seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 30 games left.

Only Brendan Shanahan solved him on Wednesday, redirecting Jaromir Jagr's shot in with his skate in the second period. Raycroft stopped 65 of 67 shots in a 24-hour span as Toronto started a five-game road trip with consecutive wins at Carolina and New York.

``I didn't think we had a lot in the tank because we spent a lot last night,'' coach Paul Maurice said. ``You have to find a way to win these games. You can't do it without your goalie.''

In other NHL games, it was Anaheim 2, Phoenix 1; and Edmonton 5, Columbus 2.

Raycroft didn't have to do it all by himself, however. Leafs captain Mats Sundin set up the tying goal in the second period and then put Toronto on top for good in the third with his 20th goal of the season _ a breakaway after a long pass from defenseman Ian White.

Sundin has hit that mark in each of his 16 NHL seasons.

``It's a big part of my job,'' said Sundin, who has 516 career goals. ``I get paid to be productive and score goals.''

And Raycroft is supposed to prevent them. That hasn't always come easy for the 26-year-old Ontario native, acquired by the Leafs last June. He has allowed at least five goals seven times in 43 games this season.

``Keep in mind, he is young as a goaltender,'' said Maurice, who turned 40 this week.

Raycroft already planned out his flight back to Canada before he changed out of his playing outfit. This began the time he needed to unwind. A big matchup with the Ottawa Senators looms on Saturday.

``I can control my energy level, and you have to do that on a back-to-back,'' he said. ``I realize how fast you can lose it. It's really good to be on a roll for all of us.

``I'm going to get on the plane, lie down, turn on my iPod, and kind of shut it down.''

The Rangers lost at home for the fourth time in five games.

Shanahan was angry after this loss, but more about the treatment of Jagr. Shanahan doesn't believe the Rangers captain gets a fair shake from the officials.

``I don't know what the deal is,'' an angry Shanahan said. ``Guys hit him late, guys hit him high, guys hook his hands. He doesn't complain. He just goes out and plays and plays and plays. The referees just seem to have a different set of rules about the way people get to play against him.

``Not since (Slava) Fetisov came over from Russia have I ever seen a star player get ignored by the referees, and I know the reason why they were ignoring him back then.''

Jagr, from the Czech Republic, had finished speaking to reporters before Shanahan came to his defense.

Mike Murphy, the NHL's senior vice president of hockey operations, didn't agree with Shanahan's assessment. He watched the game from the league's ``war room'' in Toronto and felt it was officiated well and fairly.

``I think criticism is a great form of adjustment for us,'' Murphy told The Associated Press in a phone interview. ``The more honest criticism directed at us helps us watch our department close to make sure we do things right.

``Criticism isn't something we run from.''

Shanahan took a large role in getting the NHL to tighten up its rules on clutching and grabbing once the lockout was settled before last season. During the year off, Shanahan formed a panel of hockey experts who made several recommendations that the league adopted.

Now he wants to see those rules applied. Toronto was 1-for-6 on the power play Wednesday while New York converted one of only two chances.

``I didn't think the game was called any different than games are called every night,'' Murphy said. ``Jagr is a player that does get identified by the other team. I know the Leafs used Hal Gill against him, and Hal is a big strong guy. He is able to use his size and strength to eliminate Jagr in many different ways.

``They know Jagr is a key performer on the Rangers, but teams are allowed to play against him in a legal fashion.''

Ducks 2, Coyotes 1

At Anaheim, Calif., Travis Moen and Andy McDonald scored the tying and go-ahead goals less than 1 1/2 minutes apart in the third period, Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 24 saves and Anaheim got its ninth straight home win over the Coyotes.

Curtis Joseph stopped the first 29 shots he faced and was trying to make Fredrik Sjostrom's first-period goal stand up when Moen scored with 12:27 left.

Phoenix has lost six of nine.

Oilers 5, Blue Jackets 2

Raffi Torres scored twice and Fernando Pisani had a goal and two assists for Edmonton.

Ryan Smyth and Petr Sykora also scored for the Oilers, who went 3-2 on a five-game homestand.

David Vyborny and Fredrik Modin had goals for Columbus, which had a four-game winning streak snapped.