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TORONTO — There were plenty of reasons why Saturday evening presented itself as the perfect scenario for Sean Avery and the New York Rangers to win their first road game of the season.
For openers, the Rangers were playing the Toronto Maple Leafs, a club that has struggled mightily at home this season.
Avery, of nearby Pickering, Ont., is feisty on most nights, but he especially likes to get under the skin of Toronto forward Darcy Tucker.
Finally, among the season-high crowd of 19,503 at the Air Canada Centre for the annual Hall of Fame game was former Rangers captain Mark Messier, who along with Ron Francis, Scott Stevens, Al MacInnis and builder Jim Gregory will be inducted on Monday.
New York Rangers forward Sean Avery fights with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Darcy Tucker during the first period. (Mike Cassese/Reuters)
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- Buffalo Sabres
- New York Rangers
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Nik Antropov
- Sean Avery
- Scott Gomez
- Marcel Hossa
- Pavel Kubina
- Alexei Ponikarovsky
- Andrew Raycroft
- Brendan Shanahan
- Matt Stajan
- Mats Sundin
- Vesa Toskala
The Rangers didn't disappoint Messier, skating off with a 3-2 shootout victory after surrendering a two-goal lead in the second period. Avery played a key role scoring once and setting up another goal as the Rangers improved to 5-2 with him in the lineup after going 4-5-1 as he recovered from a separated shoulder.
The agitator created a buzz before the game even started, when he precipitated a pre-game fracas by yelling obscenities at Tucker in the warm-up. The Leafs forward would not divulge the exact content of Avery's monologue, but he did say "it was classless."
"I've had many people tell me that," Avery said. "That's not the first. And I'm sure it won't be the last."
So what was the deal with the pre-game hullabaloo?
"Just the usual Sean Avery stuff: Letting everybody know that we're going to war," he said.
Avery engaged Tucker in the pre-game skate with some verbal taunts when the two were near benches.
"He just kept yapping," Tucker said. "He just didn't stop. And there is nothing you can do about it. He gets right in your face."
Then midway through the goal-less first period, a fracas erupted near the benches once again while the two clubs were making on-the-fly line changes. Tucker threw off his gloves and went to fight Avery, but the two were quickly separated and skated to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike penalties.
Words continued to be exchanged while Tucker and Avery sat out their two minutes, and then moments after they exited the penalty box they traded punches with Avery connecting with a right uppercut near the end of the fight. Tucker had a red scrape mark near his left eye.
"Yep, that's part of it," said Tucker, when asked if he challenged him early in the game because of Avery's pre-game skate remarks. "I tried to do it at the benches there but he wouldn't drop his gloves."
Again, while sitting out their major fighting penalties, motor-mouth Avery continued to verbally spar with Tucker.
There was little surprise that the two teams concluded the first period at 0-0. With the Leafs new focus playing more passively and the defence-first Rangers ranked last in the 30-team league with 1.88 goals scored per game, there wasn't a lot of offence.
But Avery ignited the Rangers offence in the second period. After New York's Scott Gomez beat Leafs centre Matt Stajan on a face-off in the Leafs end, Avery shook off Toronto defenceman Pavel Kubina behind the net to set up linemate Brendan Shanahan.
Forty-two seconds later, Avery jostled with Kubina in front of Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala, the surprise starter considering that Andrew Raycroft shutout the Buffalo Sabres with a 30-save performance on Friday, but got free to bang in a rebound.
The Rangers are solid shutdown team, but the Leafs evened the score before the second intermission on a pair of goals from Alexei Ponikarovsky. His first came off the rush and he tied the game on a rebound thanks to a strong play by Sundin.
In the shootout, both Brendan Shanahan and Marcel Hossa scored on Toskala, while Nik Antropov and Mats Sundin missed on their attempts.
The Leafs now are 0-2 in shootouts this season and 7-16 overall.
Backup Steve Valiquette, who hails from Etobicoke, Ont. (on the western side of Toronto's city limits), was solid in goal for New York. The Leafs outshot their opponents 34-27.
Kubina hurt his right leg in the third period when he collided with Rangers forward Blair Betts, but Toronto coach Paul Maurice said he would likely play on Tuesday at home against the Montreal Canadiens.
