Alexei Ponikarovsky News

Jason Blake got the winner but Jonas Gustavsson earned the save. A whole bunch of them, in fact.

Phil Kessel scored his first goal with Toronto and Jonas Gustavsson made 35 saves to lead the Maple Leafs to a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

Toronto Maple Leafs' players John Mitchell, Phil Kessel, and Tomas Kaberle celebrate teammate Jason Blake's winning goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during their NHL hockey game in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday, Nov.

Just who is running the ghost ship that is the office of the NHL Players' Association? Well, for now, it's Mike Ouellet and Rolland Lee.

While the Maple Leafs continue to lead the NHL in moral victories as they search for a second real win, they can take solace in that help is on the way.

The Canadiens led 4-2 midway through the third, but Alexei Ponikarovsky 's second of the game and a last-minute goal from Tomas Kaberle tied it with 54 seconds left in regulation.

They followed their first win of the season by losing 4-3 to the Dallas Stars last night when goaltender Jonas Gustavsson kicked a rebound to winger James Neal at 3:57 of overtime.

If I were to ask who needed to step up their game to get the Toronto Maple Leafs out of this terrible slump, the answer might be laughable.

Niklas Hagman scored three of Toronto's five power-play goals, and the Maple Leafs finally earned their first victory of the season, 6-3 over the last-place Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.

They've reverted back to the top two lines that faced the Rangers on Saturday with Jason Blake and Niklas Hagman swtiching lines from the trios that worked out yesterday.

Published on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009 2:01PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009 4:16PM EDT T oronto Maple Leafs defenceman Ian White was back at practice and only slightly less worse for wear on Tuesday after receiving about 20 stitches to his upper lip and above his left eye.

When critics try to explain what they feel is wrong with the N.H.L., they often say the league does not market its stars in the United States as other pro sports do.

Toronto extends its losing skid to seven games to start the season with a 4-1 defeat against the New York Rangers FULL TEXT The last-place Toronto Maple Leafs continue to have a difficult time scoring goals and an easy time making mental mistakes to prolong their horrific beginning to the 2009-10 NHL season.

The Maple Leafs had better beware of falling into Sean Avery's Big Yap Trap. Making his first appearance of the 2009-10 season last night, Avery was at his chatty best - or worst, some would say - during a 3-0 victory by his New York Rangers over the Anaheim Ducks.

The 0-5-1 Toronto Maple Leafs want to hit the reset button, says coach Ron Wilson.

The Avalanche scored the fewest goals in the NHL a year ago, but have found lighting the lamp a little easier so far in 2009-10. That shouldn't change against the Maple Leafs.

There is nothing mysterious or complicated about why a Toronto Maple Leafs team, which thus far this season had been making a mini-career out of losing , can come into the Canadiens' 7-2-3 house and leave with a 3-2 victory.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won their third Stanley Cup in June with a pair of tense, one-goal victories, and their propensity for winning tight games doesn't seem to have disappeared over the summer after pulling out three contests that have gone down to the wire.

If only a goaltending controversy was the lone problem with the Maple Leafs two games into their National Hockey League schedule.

Ron Wilson made good on his promise to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a hard skate.