Leafs even series

Toronto
Maple Leafs

"It was a huge win," said Steve Thomas, whose third period goal regained a two-goal lead for Toronto. "We definitely had to bounce back from Game One. We've been very successful on the road. We'll just take our road game out there and try to not put on a show and try to win a little ugly."

Steve Sullivan and Sylvain Cote scored 18 seconds apart in the first period to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead and they never looked back. Curtis Joseph regained top shape stopping 30 shots.

"Joseph was his old self tonight," said Garry Valk, who finished scoring with an empty-netter. "He was moving the puck well, yelling, and doing a lot of talking. He was a big boost."

Sergei Berezin and Yanic Perreault also scored for the Maple Leafs, who must get ready for the probable return of Dominik Hasek when the series moves to Buffalo for Games 3 and 4.

"I don't think a lot who's playing in the net," Berezin said. "My job is to get open, get the puck and shoot the puck. If I have the puck, it's my headache. If I shoot it, it's his headache."

Buffalo can be happy after they earned a split in the first two games of the series. However, the Sabres' power-play was about the only thing to be happy about in Game 2. Buffalo scored all three goals with a man-advantage.

"You can't fault Dwayne," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "The first goal, they got three whacks at it. The third goal, Berezin, he's all alone. The Thomas goal (was) a point-blank one-timer. He'd probably like to have one goal back, but I thought he made several key saves at key times in the game."