Leafs Lucky To Tie Boston

Ray Bourque tied Paul Coffey, then Daniil Markov tied the Boston Bruins.

Markov scored with less than a minute to play in the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs escaped with a 2-2 tie against the Bruins on Saturday night.

Markov slid into the slot, took a pass from Steve Sullivan from behind the net and beat goalie Byron Dafoe to cap the Maple Leafs' rally from a two-goal deficit that began with Sergei Berezin's goal with 7:18 left.

"It was a very good pass," said the 22-year-old Russian. "I tried a shot. The middle was open and I (went). I'm very happy."

Earlier, Bourque tied Paul Coffey for most goals scored by a defenseman with career No. 385 on a slap shot during a power play 8:11 into the game.

"It feels good," said the 20-year veteran, who extended his points streak to six games and has 22 points in his last 23 games. "Things are starting to go in for me, but I'm sure Coff has a few goals to go and so do I."

Coffey has two goals this season with Carolina. Bourque has 10.

Joe Thornton had the other goal for Boston, which extended its unbeaten streak to six games (3-0-3). Kyle McLaren assisted on both goals.

After blitzing Carolina for seven goals on Friday night, it took the Maple Leafs until the 52nd minute of Saturday night's game to score again.

Berezin picked up Garry Valk's botched drop pass to Yanic Perreault and snapped it past Dafoe.

"I'm happy with the way we came back," said Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn. "I hate to say (the Bruins) don't play, but they don't want to play the game the way we play. They like to dump it in. They're a tough team to play."

Dafoe made 25 saves and Joseph had 24.

"To come back from a 2-0 deficit almost feels like a win," Joseph said.

The Bruins, who hold the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, extended their lead over the Florida Panthers to ix points.

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