Ed Belfour made 36 saves, and Joe Nieuwendyk scored twice on a shaky Patrick Lalime as the Toronto Maple Leafs advanced to the second round of the playoffs Tuesday by beating the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in Game 7.
"I know Lalime would like to have a couple of those back," Nieuwendyk said. "He played a terrific series, but our goalie played a little bit better. We're awfully excited to be moving on."
Ottawa is 0-4 in series against Toronto and 0-4 in Game 7s overall. The Senators avoided the Maple Leafs in last year's playoffs and reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals before losing to Stanley Cup champion New Jersey.
The Maple Leafs, who led 3-0 after first period, will meet the Flyers in the second round -- beginning with Game 1 on Thursday night in Philadelphia.
Toronto enforcer Tie Domi sparked his team by assisting on the first goal. Nieuwendyk added two weak goals on Lalime, who was replaced by backup Martin Prusek to start the second.
"It's not the way you want it to end," Lalime said. "They were both bad goals."
Following Ottawa's double overtime victory in Game 6 on Sunday, Senators owner Eugene Melnyk predicted his team would win Game 7 easily.
Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson also vowed his team would win the series after the Senators lost Game 5. It wasn't to be, largely because of Lalime's poor play. The goalie, who struggled this season, allowed three goals on just 11 shots.
Belfour, who tied an NHL record by recording three shutouts in series, looked spectacular again. Fans chanted "Ed-die, Ed-die!" throughout.
Toronto won the series despite being outshot 238-154, and Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn called Belfour his best player earlier in the day.
Ottawa's Vaclav Varada cut Toronto's lead to 3-1 just 22 seconds in the second period, but the Senators couldn't close the gap and went 0-for-3 on the power play in the period.
The Senators, who ranked No. 1 in the NHL with the man advantage during the regular season, went 3-for-35 against Toronto.
Bryan McCabe gave the Maple Leafs a 4-1 lead at 7:59 of the third.
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