Toskala Gets First Star

Vesa Toskala stopped 28 shots on route to a 4-2 win over the high powered Philadelphia Flyers tonight. For the second game in a row the Leafs were out shot by their opponent. This after posting a string of games where they out shot the opposition 17 consecutive times. Another positive note was their ability to hold on to the lead, which has been a problem the entire season, if it wasn't for their un-canny ability to come from behind to win most of their earlier games, they would in fact be the worst team in the league...by far. The box score from tonight's win can be found here.

Both Stajan and Grabovski were held off of the score sheet though both contributed on both sides of the puck. Leafs fans held their collective breath for a few moments after Grabovski was checked from behind in the open ice by the Flyers Josh Gratton. He would later prove to be alright and continued to play after a brief rest on the bench.

Although The Leafs did score on the power play against the Flyers, a trend that should be more than a little disturbing to the coaching staff is the fact that the Leafs can't seem to score with a 2 man power play advantage. Tonight's 5 on 3 was in fact the 14th consecutive 5 on 3 with which the Leafs were unable to convert. Wilson did however try a different approach tonight, employing five forwards for most of the 1:08 two man advantage. Although they still didn't convert the new look certainly had it's chances.

With the exception of a couple of mental mistakes by Tomas Kaberle, the Leafs once again played a better defensive game overall.

I would of course be remiss if I didn't mention the Leafs announcement, that they had in fact made public what was probably, in my opinion the worst kept secret in the history of major league sports. They signed Brian Burke. There , I mentioned it.

Toskala, once again shone in goal making a number of big saves to help preserve the lead. Including a pretty flashy glove save on Savard from in close late in the second.

Another area that the leafs are showing steady improvement is in the face off circle, winning 33 of 24 against the Flyers tonight. Once again due largely to the efficiency of Matt Stajan in that department.

Have you heard?...........

Ok, first of all, a friend of mine asked me last night if I knew where the hell Mark Bell got to. I hate to admit it, but I had no idea. So, I checked. It seems as though Mr Bell is in fact still in the Maple Leafs organization. He is playing with the Marlies and has 9 points in 18 games. He is a -6 and has 20 pim so far this year. There ya go Brian!

I heard a rumor on the post game show after Tuesdays game vs Atlanta. It was a regular caller into the radio show that I listen to, and he said there was a strong possibility that the Maple Leafs and Mats Sundin were going to hook up during the teams stop in Vancouver and try to hammer out a deal. Now, I love the man as much as anyone else, and I said right from the start that if we saw him in the NHL this year, it would in fact be in a leafs jersey. However, with him gone, we have seen some steady improvement from a couple of the other players that everyone had basically written of as being too one dimensional without Sundin around to help them. I am speaking of Matt Stajan and Alex Ponikarovski . Both of whom are well on their way to having career years. I am not saying for a second that I don't think Sundin could help this team, he is still an incredible player with lots to offer. I suppose what I'm asking is should the Leafs want his help?

Toskala was Sensational!! Auld wasn't too bad either!

The Senators snipers simply proved too much one on one for Toskala, who arguably played his best game in a Leafs jersey to date!!

Despite some gritty perfomances by several players, including but certainly not limited to Alex Ponikarovsky, Matt Stajan and of course Grabovski. The later of which is quite easily the best player on the Leafs roster so far this season.The Leafs couldn't find a way to beat the solid play of Ottawa's Alex Auld more than once.

The Leafs on this night, played a much more defensively responsible game. This is the kind of game we should have expected from a Ron Wilson coached team right out of the gate. With the talent that the Leafs have now, the emmergance of Matts Stajan in the absence of Matts Sundin, and the potential of youngsters such as Luke Shenn and Mikeal Grabovski, Leafs fans certainly have something to look forward to down the road!

Thursday nights game was overshadowed by the Maple Leafs reaching a deal with former Anaheim GM Brian Burke.

Cris Kelly and Mike Fisher also had huge games for the Senators, Fisher having just returned from a two game absence due to injury. When asked about the shoot out against Toskala, Jason Spezza replied “He plays a little deeper than most guys so that was kind of my reasoning behind shooting,” Spezza said. “I thought maybe to deke if he came out far, but … I think he was relying on playing deep and not letting us beat him on a deke.”

“Toskala stood on his head but Auldie’s just been rock solid for us,” Spezza said. “He hasn’t allowed too many goals, his numbers are great, he’s playing with a lot of confidence and he seems to be a guy who’s really seeing the puck well and playing really well for us right now.” Toskala's performance right out of the gate on this night, was cause for concern. After the first five minutes however he was clearly in a zone that I don't believe we have seen yet this season. You can find the Box Score here.

Toskala stopped 34 shots to help the Maple Leafs earn a standings point despite extending their losing streak to five (0-3-2). “He was awesome for us,” says rookie defenseman Luke Shenn , who also had a pretty good night .

Off the ice, Burke and the Maple Leafs agreed to a six-year deal for the former Ducks general manager to take over as president and GM, The Associated Press learned Thursday night. Burke spent the past three-plus seasons with the Ducks, leading them to a Stanley Cup title in 2007. He’ll replace Cliff Fletcher, hired as interim general manager following the firing of John Ferguson in January.

Ottawa out shot Toronto 35-26 overall, including a 5-0 margin in overtime as Toskala came up with a pair of big stops on Fisher in the final seconds of the extra period.

“It wasn’t for lack of chances,” Fisher said. “We had some good, quality shots and chances and he played really well.”

The Maple Leafs ended a team-record 17-game stretch without being out shot.

And The hits just keep on coming!

The Atlanta Thrashers handed the slumping Toronto Maple Leafs a somewhat lopsided loss on Tuesday night at home. If Brian Burke takes over as general manager as expected in the coming days, he won't sit still for long and watch this kind of crap. I didn't get to see the game but from all indications, I should be thankful.

Toronto has surrendered an NHL-worst 78 goals, a fact that surprises new Toronto coach Ron Wilson. He owns the reputation of being a defensive coach, but he is still struggling to get through to this group.

On the bright side, Jeff Finger scored his first as a Leaf. Antropov and Hagman also scored for the Leafs who now boast a record of 7-9-5. llya Kovalchuk scored the game winner ( his 7th ) for the Thrashers in the second period. For the whole box score, go here.

In other news. ' Trader Cliff ' wasn't about to sit waiting to see what Brian Burke was going to do, and pulled of what seems to be a pretty good deal for the Leafs...... just kidding. The trade with the St Louis Blues saw Alex Steen and often injured d-man Carlo Colaiacovo going to the Blues, with Lee Stempniak coming to the Blue & White.

Stempniak is having a great year so far with 13 points in 14 games so far. 3 of his 14 points are goals. The 25 year old is a native of Buffalo and was St. Louis' 7th pick overall in the 2003 NHL Entry draft

The Leafs head into Ottawa on Thursday noght for a tilt with the Sens. That will probably be just what the doctor ordered to help get the Buds back on track!