Blake bounces back as Leafs crush Oilers

EDMONTON-Little known fact: Jason Blake can be a real pest.

That attribute is what helped him score 40 goals with the New York Islanders two seasons ago. That attribute has been missing from his game in a season and a bit with Toronto.

After being a healthy scratch Tuesday night in Calgary - a clear message from coach Ron Wilson that he wasn't playing well - Blake fumed that perhaps coming to Toronto was a mistake.

But Blake didn't take his frustrations out on Leaf fans or his teammates. He took it out on the Oilers and discovered - for one game anyway - his inner pest in the Leafs' 5-2 win last night.

"We've talked to him about that, he's got to play with (an edge) and be in people's faces," said Wilson, happy that his message got through. "My job? I'm not a massage therapist. Sometimes you have to hit (players) over the head. In order to hear, you have to hammer the message home.

"We've got plenty of guys who can step into the lineup. Jason played tonight the way he's capable of. I don't have a problem when a guy puts in an effort like that: Skating and forechecking and being a pest."

Blake didn't get a goal - he did get two key assists - but managed to bother the Oilers all night.

"That's one thing that crossed my mind, that I've got to get under people's skin. That's the way I played earlier in my career, and I've just got to keep doing it," said Blake, who added he understands Wilson's motives behind the benching.

"It's all about challenging players to be the best. I'm glad he put me back in (last night). I was all fired up."

Mikhail Grabovski, Ian White, Nik Antropov, Nikolai Kulemin and Tomas Kaberle scored for Toronto, now 1-1 on its Western swing with a date waiting in Vancouver tomorrow night.

Blake took his lumps early in the game, which seemed to get him going. He took a mid-ice hit from Ales Hemsky in the first period, then delivered one to Lubomir Visnovsky in the third.

Blake made two terrific plays on White's key third period goal.

With the Leafs up 3-2, Oilers point man Sheldon Souray let rip a slapshot that Vesa Toskala stopped; the rebound dribbled loose. Blake got to the puck first, and cleared it out of danger. A couple of seconds later, he sped down the left wing, leading a two-on-one. Surprise - he didn't shoot. His pass to White was right on the tape, and the converted defenceman wristed a shot that beat Oilers rookie goalie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, who suffered his first loss of the season (3-1-0).

Blake did it again, setting up Grabovski's eighth goal of the year at 13:32 of the third, this time feeding the rookie centre from behind the net. It was the Leafs' third power-play goal of the night.

For Grabovski, it was his sixth game in a row with at least one point - he has seven goals, three assists in that stretch.

"He's got his confidence, he's skating, he's a threat every time he steps on the ice," said Wilson of Grabovski. "More importantly, he's played well defensively."

Kulemin's goal was his first since Oct. 13, the third game of the season. It came on a deflection of a Kaberle wrist shot.

"We had Kulemin standing in front of the net and he scores a garbage goal," said Wilson. "It's a lesson for him to learn."

Sam Gagner and Ethan Moreau scored for Edmonton.

Matt Stajan picked up three assists, and now has a five-game points streak, accumulating nine points in that span.