Alfredsson's Game 5 winner has Leafs up in arms

TORONTO -- Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson hit Toronto forward Darcy Tucker from behind, then scored the winning goal that pushed the Maple Leafs to the brink of elimination Friday night.

The few seconds all of this took were the most sensational of the Swedish right winger's hockey career.

"I was just trying to step in front of him to make sure the puck got back to our defenseman," Alfredsson said of the unpenalized hit that sent Tucker into the side boards and left him writhing in pain on the ice as play continued. "I didn't see him down on the ice until I scored."

Clean check?

"Yeah, for sure," said Alfredsson.

Sami Salo's pass from the blue line to Yuha Ylonen behind the net was relayed to Alfredsson, who dashed toward the net after hammering Tucker, and the puck was over Curtis Joseph's left shoulder and under the cross bar for a 3-2 Ottawa lead with 2:01 remaining.

"Yuha made a nice play to me and I pretty much had an open net," said Alfredsson.

Tucker was helped off, fans littered the ice with debris, and after a delay to clean up the mess Radek Bonk scored into an empty net for a 4-2 final and a 3-2 Ottawa edge in the best-of-seven, second-round NHL series.

"I'm still in shock that nothing was called," said Leafs winger Tie Domi. "It'll be interesting to see how this one was judged (by the NHL).

"Video don't lie."

The Senators can finish off the Leafs on home ice Sunday night.

"Usually we've responded with some of our best efforts when things like this have happened and I expect no different," said Toronto center Alyn McCauley.

Wade Redden and Marian Hossa also scored for the Senators, while Gary Roberts and McCauley replied for the Leafs, who rallied to force a 2-2 tie late in the third period and set a table for overtime that Alfredsson overturned.

"Getting this win was huge for us," said defenseman Curtis Leschyshyn. "We felt the pressure Toronto was putting on us, tying it up, but we continued to work hard, and that's what we need to do in order to be successful."

Leafs coach Pat Quinn said Tucker, who already was laboring with a banged-up shoulder, was unlikely to be in his team's lineup Sunday. Quinn, fined $30,000 by the league last week, limited his comments on the Alfredsson hit on Tucker to avoid further fines.

"I'm quite frankly full of anger," Quinn said.

Alfredsson is better known for his offensive flair than for physical play.

"I don't go out of my way to finish a check," he said. "If it's there, I'll take it.

"There wasn't much time left and I wanted to make something happen offensively."

The controversial hit aside, the Leafs have too many injuries to expect to win the Stanley Cup, and Ottawa is too talented a club to be beaten by a lineup that includes four or five AHL call-ups every night.

Redden had opened the scoring 7:22 into Game 5 when he slapped a shot from the top of the circle to the right of Curtis Joseph into the top of the net on the goalie's left side -- the catching mitt side the Senators prioritized all series because it's the hand Joseph broke in February and has favored since returning.

Roberts tied it on a power play at 19:42. Zdeno Chara was off for roughing. The towering Slovak gave Shayne Corson a gloved facewash after a whistle, and Corson embellished it by falling backward to the ice as if shot. The referees bit. Only 19 seconds later, Roberts dashed to the crease to deflect in a McCauley pass from the side boards. The puck nestled under the crossbar behind crouching goalie Patrick Lalime.

Hossa gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 7:13 of the second period. Corson was off for high-sticking. Hossa had the puck at the left side of Joseph's crease and attempted a pass. Leafs defenseman Bryan McCabe, trying to help, inadvertently deflected the puck into his own net.

Alexander Mogilny nearly retied the score when he zinged a shot off a post, but the Senators were still ahead when the third period started.

Ottawa intensified its tight checking. The Senators patiently awaited a mistake they could convert into an insurmountable lead. With 10 minutes left, the Leafs still were unable to sustain any offensive pressure in the Ottawa zone.

Then Roberts and McCauley hooked up again to tie it 2-2. Lalime was lying in his crease after stopping a Roberts shot when McCauley reached to backhand in the rebound with 7:26 remaining.

"They're a gritty hockey club that doesn't give up," said Leschyshyn.

"We didn't forecheck enough," said Hossa.

The goal reinvigorated the noisy capacity crowd of 19,499.

"We were sitting back," said Senators defenseman Chris Phillips. "Give credit to them -- they were down one and needed a goal so they came at us hard.

"We were on our heels."

That was when Alfredsson took upon himself to edit the plot in his team's favor.

"Whether it was clean or dirty, it can't be a concern for either team now," Phillips said of the hit he claimed he didn't see. "If either team spends too much time worrying about it the series will be over."

Added Leschyshyn: "I'm sure their side is not too happy with (the hit). Obviously, we are. That's the way the game of hockey goes."

The Senators know one thing for sure: they don't want to return to Toronto this spring.

"We sure hope so," Phillips replied when asked if Ottawa can finish off the Leafs back at the Corel Centre. "We don't want to come back to this rink.

"It's not the end of the world if we don't (win Sunday) but we're going to do everything to try and get it done."

"Toronto is going to be desperate," added Leschyshyn. "We need to match their intensity and be a little better in that department."

Notes: Rob Shick and Stephen Walkom were the referees who decided to let the Alfredsson hit go. . . .Two of Ottawa's three wins have come in the Air Canada Centre. . . .Toronto had a 28-21 shots advantage. McCauley had a game-high five shots. . . .Both teams were 1-for-3 on power plays. . . .Hits were 34-34. . . . Defenseman Karel Pilar (thumb) joined forwards Mats Sundin (wrist) and Mikael Renberg (hamstring), defenseman Dmitry Yushkevich (blood clot, leg), forward Garry Valk (groin), defenseman Jyrki Lumme (concussion) and goalie Tom Barrasso (hand) on Toronto's injured list. AHL call-up Nathan Dempsey took Pilar's spot, joining St. John's teammates Alexei Ponikarovsky, Paul Healey and Anders Eriksson in the lineup. . . .The Leafs were further weakened when a banged-up Tucker aggravated a shoulder injury in the first period. He was unable to play his usual body-slamming style, and with a reduced workload carried on until Alfredsson finished him off. . . . Ottawa started with a full lineup but lost centre Mike Fisher (knee) early in the game. . . . Defenseman Sami Salo, who hurt a shoulder and couldn't finish Game 4 after being tripped into the boards by Tucker, was able to play.