The Leafs' forward scored 4:30 into the third overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators Saturday that ties their Eastern Conference semifinal at 1-1.
Travis Green and Darcy Tucker also scored for the Leafs. Sami Salo and Mike Fisher scored for the Senators.
Just moments after a series of wild end-to-end rushes threatened to end the game, Roberts picked up a loose puck off a faceoff in the Ottawa zone, took a couple strides toward the net and fired a shot between the pads of Patrick Lalime to end the longest game in Senators history and third-longest in Toronto's lengthy history
Gary Roberts (7) is mobbed by teammates after scoring the winner in the third overtime against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. (CP/Frank Gunn)
"It was kind of wide open there for two minutes there, end-to-end rushes, turnovers, it looked like someone wanted to get the game over with," Roberts told Hockey Night in Canada after the game.
"We're fortunate to get the win, it was a big win for us."
It wasn't the best opportunity of the game for Roberts, who had a chance to end the game before overtime when he rang a shot off the post with a couple of minutes remaining in the third.
"It's one of the bigger goals I've scored as a Leaf," Roberts, who has emerged as the Leafs' de facto captain in the absence of the sidelined Mats Sundin, told reporters after the game. "It may not have been the prettiest goal, but if you looked at the goals I've scored, they're not very pretty, anyway.
"I'll take it any way I can. It was nice to get the win. It was a total team effort. We definitely didn't want to go into Ottawa down 2-0."
"Roberts plays hell-bent, gives nothing but his utmost, he's a winner and he gets rewards like tonight," said an appreciative Toronto coach Pat Quinn. "Everybody wants a Gary Roberts."
Fisher said the Senators can take solace in the fact that they're heading back to Ottawa with the home-ice advantage.
"It's disappointing, but we got the split," said Fisher. "It was a long game. We were playing on emotion. The legs were stinging. Both teams were tired."
Toronto wouldn't have even been in the game if not for some spectacular goaltending from netminder Curtis Joseph.
Joseph was widely criticized after Game 1 for letting in some soft goals, and there was widespread speculation in the Toronto media that a broken hand that kept him out for the regular season stretch run hadn't fully healed.
But he silenced his critics Saturday, stopping 54 of the 56 shots he faced, including several Ottawa breakaways.
"That was totally undeserved," Roberts said. "Obviously, Curtis Joseph, for what he's done for this city and for this hockey club . . . no one in that dressing room has done more than Curtis Joseph.
"He's a huge part of this organization, and for the wrath he took (Friday) I think our whole team felt bad for him. It just shows his character -- how he came back and had a solid game for us."
"Thanks to Cujo I had another opportunity," Roberts said of Joseph's heroics, which included stoning Marian Hossa on a breakaway just before the decisive faceoff.
The Senators' Lalime was nearly as good. The Leafs opened the game with a lot more energy than they displayed Thursday, and scored two goals on their first four shots. But after that Lalime stopped the next 37 shots he faced until Roberts' winner.
"We showed a lot of good things tonight, coming back from 2-0," said Lalime. "Our goal was to come in here and get one game and we sure did that. We'll come back at them Monday."
The Leafs opened the scoring 4:46 into the game when Karel Pilar picked up the puck on the right faceoff circle skated into the corner, circled the net and found Green alone on the doorstep.
They made it 2-0 at 8:20 when Alexander Mogilny pressured Chris Phillips in front of the Ottawa net and forced a giveaway. Tucker jumped on the loose puck and fired a wrist shot high on Lalime's glove side.
Joseph came up big on several occasions during the period, including a sliding stop on Benoit Brunet on a breakaway.
"Both goalies made some unbelievable saves, especially in overtime," said Senators winger Daniel Alfredsson. "There were all kinds of chances, but they kept the game going."
The Senators got on the board at 7:52 of the second when Todd White cleanly won a faceoff in the Leafs end and drew the puck straight back to Sami Salo, who beat Joseph with a blast high on the far, stick side.
Mike Fisher tied the score 2:49 into the third when he wristed a bad angle shot past a surprised Joseph, the only save attempt on the night that Joseph would like to have back.
"It's disappointing, but I guess you can draw a lot of positives," said Senators coach Jacques Martin.
"We're leaving here 1-1 against a pretty good hockey club. We had our chances, we just didn't capitalize."
In addition to enjoying the better of the play, even if they weren't fully rewarded for it, the Senators won't have the same kind of manpower drain plaguing the Leafs when the series shifts Ottawa's Corel Centre for Game 3 on Monday (CBC, 7 p.m. EDT).
Already worn down by a brutal, bruising seven-game series against the New York Islanders, the Leafs were short-staffed again Saturday night. Checking forward Garry Valk was a late scratch with a groin injury, and defenceman Jyrki Lumme left the game early in the first period after absorbing a heavy hit against the glass.
The Senators, meanwhile, sported fresher legs in the game in outskating the Leafs and have a healthy lineup going into Game 3.
