Pogge debuts in style

This was either sweet payback for the Toronto Maple Leafs or merely another night's work in a splendid, pre-Christmas surge that has the club challenging to join the playoff drive in the National Hockey League's Eastern Conference.

Whichever way the Leafs view it, their 6-2 triumph over the Atlanta Thrashers Monday night had to be extremely grat-ifying. It moved the club to above .500 -- 14-13-6 -- for the first time since Nov. 13. It also avenged an embarrassing 6-3 loss to the cellar-dwelling Thrashers at the Air Canada Centre Nov. 25.

RECALLED FROM AHL

Goalie Justin Pogge earned a vict-ory in his NHL debut.

The Leafs recalled Pogge Saturday from the AHL's Toronto Marlies after Vesa Toskala aggravated a groin injury against Pittsburgh.

And though Toskala could be back in time for tonight's home encounter with Dallas (7:30 p.m., RSO), it was a promising, if uneventful, start for Pogge, the Leafs' top pick in the 2004 draft.

Toronto is now 5-1 since Dec. 8, and the offence is in high gear after an 18-goal burst on the three-game road trip.

Two-fifths of the way through the season, the club has moved to within three points of playoff territory in the East -- a position few observers felt was achievable at any stage of the season.

Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen returned Saturday from a 21-game absence with a back injury and stoned Tampa Bay by stopping 23 of 24 shots in the third period as the Thrashers won 4-3. Monday night, however, the Leafs scored on their first and fourth shots of the opening frame.

Alexei Ponikarovsky followed his own shot and dribbled a rebound under Lehtonen only 59 seconds into the game.

Scoring machine Jeremy Williams then one-timed Dominic Moore's feed from behind the net high to the glove-side on Lehtonen at 10:43.

It was Williams' fifth goal in six games since being recalled Dec. 7 from the Marlies.

Matt Stajan finished off a lovely, three-way connection with Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov late in the second period to widen the visitors' lead.