Leafs take Game 7 over Ottawa

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Posted 9:15AM on Wednesday, May 15, 2002

TORONTO - No time for Alexander Mogilny and the Toronto Maple Leafs to celebrate. The Eastern Conference finals await. ``We're only halfway there,'' said Mogilny, who scored twice Tuesday night in Toronto's 3-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators in Game 7. ``I don't know what all the fuss is all about,'' he said. ``There's a whole bigger hurdle coming up. I don't know why everybody's so excited about it." The Maple Leafs begin the best-of-seven conference final against the Hurricanes at Carolina on Thursday night. In the West, San Jose is at Colorado for Game 7 on Wednesday night, with the winner to begin that conference final at Detroit on Saturday. The limping Maple Leafs, who also beat the New York Islanders with a first-round Game 7 victory, have become the most resilient team of the playoffs. In rallying from a 3-2 series deficit against Ottawa, the Maple Leafs did so despite missing six regulars, including captain Mats Sundin (broken wrist). They won Tuesday despite playing their 12th game in 22 days. Curtis Joseph stopped 19 shots to record his second shutout of the postseason, and 14th of his career to tie Jacques Plante for third on the career playoff list. Bryan McCabe also scored for the Maple Leafs, who improved to 11-8 - and 6-1 at home - in Game 7s. Mogilny has been outstanding in the clutch. He has five goals when the Leafs faced elimination this postseason. He also scored twice in Game 7 against the Islanders and delivered the winner in a 4-3 Game 6 victory over Ottawa. ``I'm just a hockey player,'' Mogilny said. ``I'm not Steve Yzerman or Mario Lemieux. I'm Alex Mogilny. ... I accept who I am and I'm just trying to be part of the group.'' As chants of ``Go Leafs Go'' echoed through the arena well after the final horn, the Senators found themselves in familiar territory - unable to win under pressure and eliminated by Toronto for the third straight postseason. Many Ottawa players were still looking back to blowing a 2-0 lead in Game 6. ``Most important was the sixth game at home,'' Martin Havlat said. ``They didn't win the game, we lost the game. I think it was a pretty important game.'' Wade Redden lamented the numerous opportunities Ottawa squandered. ``Failure to get it done. We had them on the ropes a few times,'' Redden said. ``You can look back at a number of things throughout the series. We had them 2-1 at home, and Game 6 at home, and we couldn't.'' ``When we've got them by the throat,'' he added, ``we've got to make sure we get them down.'' Among the low points on Tuesday was Ottawa setting a franchise record for fewest shots on goal in a period, when the Senators were outshot 9-1 in the second period. Mogilny opened the scoring midway through the second period on what he intended to be a pass. The puck, however, banked in off the skate of Ottawa defender Sami Salo. Mogilny made it 2-0 5:14 into the third, and McCabe sealed the win by scoring nine minutes later. The Maple Leafs played their most efficient game of the postseason, looking nothing like the team that opened this series with a 5-0 loss. Toronto played with composure, setting aside many of the disputes and complaints that had seemed to distract them earlier. ``Whenever we face adversity, we don't pack it in at all,'' center Alyn McCauley said. ``It seems the longer the series goes on, the longer the game goes on, the stronger we get. I don't know if that's the team character or conditioning, but it seems that way. ``Maybe we're just the marathon runners and not the sprint runners.'' Notes: After allowing one power-play goal in their first eight playoff games, the Senators allowed five in their last four. ... The Senators are 0-2 in Game 7s, also squandering a 3-2 series lead against Buffalo in 1997. ... Led by Jyrki Lumme, with six, the Leafs had 15 players that have played in a Game 7. The Senators had only seven players with Game 7 experience, led by McEachern's four.