Tampa Bay Lightning left winger Ryan Malone moves in on t Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jonas Gustavsson during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010 in Tampa. The Lightning won 3-2 in overtime.Chris O'Meara
It was not the first time Alexei Ponikarovsky cost the Toronto Maple Leafs a game with a brain cramp. But it was the first time he did so with two mental misfires in succession.
With the Leafs plodding their way to what appeared to be a one-goal win over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, Ponikarovsky committed two egregious mistakes that resulted in a 3-2 overtime win for the Lightning.
First, he took a stupid penalty for boarding when he blasted a Lightning player into the boards from behind with four minutes, 16 seconds left in the third period. That set up Ryan Malone's power-play goal. Then Ponikarovsky compounded his gaffe by taking an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty after the goal, when he slammed the door to the penalty box and one of his gloves went flying.
It was not immediately clear which referee was the target of Ponikarovsky's anger, but one of the officials was Stéphane Auger, who recently was accused by Alexander Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks of taking revenge on him after being taken in by a Burrows dive in a previous game. However, once the game was over, no one in the Leafs dressing room argued much about the calls, other than some minor quibbling that the unsportsmanlike penalty was a "ballsy" call at that point in the game.
The Leafs managed to kill off Ponikarovsky's second penalty, but the game wound up in overtime, where the Leafs took a penalty for too many men on the ice in the last 30 seconds. That was enough for Martin St. Louis to score with 9.8 seconds left and hand the Leafs their second consecutive loss.
"For me, there are no excuses," Ponikarovsky said. "I got a little carried away but I didn't like the call. I didn't mean to upset [the referees] but I was really upset myself and got another penalty."
When it was mentioned his teammate Ian White referred to the unsportsmanlike call as "ballsy," Ponikarovsky said he could not really complain about the penalty, although he still thought the boarding penalty was borderline.
"I know it was ballsy, but there is no excuse for me," he said. "I can't let it happen again."
Two years ago, Ponikarovsky cost the Leafs an overtime loss with a mental error. The Leafs were leading the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 in the last minute and the Hurricanes pulled their goalie. Ponikarovsky had the puck at the Hurricanes' blue line, with an open net, and inexplicably hesitated rather than shooting at the net or even dumping it in, giving Hurricanes winger Cory Stillman enough time to strip him of the puck and engineer the tying goal.
Former NHL referee Don Koharski was the officials supervisor at the game and he indicated both penalties on Ponikarovsky, and the too-many men call in overtime, were justified. Leafs head coach Ron Wilson did not argue.
The too-many-men penalty was another mental mistake, this one committed by centre Wayne Primeau. He jumped on the ice when Matt Stajan came to the bench, but touched the puck before Stajan was off the ice.
"It was the right call," Wilson said. "Our guy wasn't off the ice when the other guy touched the puck. That's the standard rule."
While Wilson later slightly questioned the unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty on Ponikarovsky, he said the player had to take the blame.
"He took two bad penalties," Wilson said. "One they scored on and the other one prevented us from regaining some momentum. We should have been more disciplined. We weren't and we lost because of it."
White and Stajan scored for the Leafs. Steve Stamkos had the other Lightning goal and Vincent Lecavalier, who was not noticeable until late in the game, wound up with three assists.
Lost along with the game was a good outing for the power play, which finished with two goals in six attempts, a decent night for the penalty killers and a good game by rookie goaltender Jonas Gustavsson. While the penalty killers faded late in the game, they did kill off a two-minute, five-on-three Lightning power play in the first period. The Tampa power play finished at two-for-seven.
The Leafs left after the game for Sunrise, Fla., where they will play the Florida Panthers tomorrow night to end their five-game road swing.
Probably the most important item on the agenda today for the Leafs, given their improbable playoff hopes for this season, is a meeting at the team hotel between general manager Brian Burke and his pro scouts. They will gather for a mid-season report, discussing various trade possibilities and assessing their own players.