This city had been invoking the spirit of Harold Ballard in recent days and wondering if he was playing a divine practical joke with Toronto going winless in its first seven games.
The Maple Leafs hadn`t won a game since Ballard, their longtime owner, died last March. He had cursed them at times when he lived, so the thinking was his curse continued in death.
If that was the case, the spell was broken Saturday night when Toronto finally came to life and registered its first victory of the season, booting the Blackhawks 6-2.
After winning games in St. Louis and Minnesota early this season, the Hawks have now lost in Detroit and Toronto in the last five days to even that Norris Division road mark.
The Hawks (5-4) have lost three of their last four games and get a chance to reassert themselves Sunday night in the Stadium against the North Stars.
Even last Thursday, they were somewhat fortunate to win 3-0 against the Leafs. Goalie Ed Belfour kept them in a game in which neither team could take control and two third-period goals toppled a confused Toronto that night.
Leafs goalie Peter Ing, who made 46 saves Thursday, earned his first National Hockey League victory Saturday. If the 21-year-old can keep playing the way he has the last two games, Toronto`s search for a goalie may be finished.
Belfour couldn`t sustain his strong season Saturday. He gave up two first-period goals and, after Wendel Clark tallied the Leafs` second power-play goal of the game in the first minute of the second period, coach Mike Keenan replaced Belfour with Jacques Cloutier.
That didn`t close the floodgates. The Hawks allowed the most goals against them this season, the previous high being the New York Islanders` four on Oct. 7.
The Hawks actually outplayed the Isles in many ways that night. This effort, however, was their first really bad one this season.
The power play success for Toronto ended a long drought. The Leafs had failed to score in their previous 17 man-advantage situations coming into this game.
Greg Gilbert, on a pass from Troy Murray, finally got the Hawks on the scoreboard midway through the second period. But the Leafs were still in front 4-1.
When Kevin Maguire, a tough-guy type who scores rarely, added to the onslaught with a goal, you knew the Hawks weren`t coming back in this game.
Pressing to score, the Hawks let Vincent Damphousse skate out on a breakaway that resulted in the goal that boosted the lead to 6-1 after two periods.
Belfour just couldn`t hang onto a Rob Ramage power-play shot late in the first period. The puck carried off his glove and into the net for a 2-0 Toronto advantage.
Both Leafs` goals were set up in the same way, after they won faceoffs in the right circle in the Chicago zone. Damphousse won the draw against Steve Larmer to lead to Ramage`s successful shot from the point. Defenseman Al Iafrate also received an assist.
Gary Leeman was under intense pressure to score a goal after being shut out in Toronto`s first seven games. So it came as a relief to him when he put the Leafs ahead 1-0 under six minutes into the game.
Leeman, one of eight 50-goal scorers in the NHL last season, flicked the puck high into the net against Belfour after teammate Gilles Thibaudeau won a faceoff in the Hawks zone. It was his first goal since last March against Chicago.
Leeman racks up a fair amount of points in the eight-game regular-season series between these teams. Last year, he had 3 goals, 8 assists.
Both teams started off slowly again, a repeat of last Thursday`s first period in the Stadium. The two were so ineffective then neither scored in that opening segment.
The normally reticent Leafs crowd even managed to raise some noise when their team made some hard hits late in the first period.
First, John McIntyre smashed Dirk Graham near the blue line in the Hawk zone as Graham was trying to get the puck out. And a short time later, Iafrate bowled over Murray in a neutral-zone collision.
The Hawks were very quiet offensively in the opening period, limited to seven shots on goal compared to Toronto`s nine. The Leafs hadn`t played super, but still managed a two-goal lead despite just an average effort.
