RALEIGH, N.C.-Jason Blake wanted to deflect attention from his personal triumph here last night.
And in the context of the Maple Leafs' crazy 6-4 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, Blake's milestone performance - three goals and five points in total - was essentially part of a team effort to overcome the inconsistencies that have plagued it the past month.
But Blake did have the night of his life in a Leaf uniform.
"I wasn't focusing on that," Blake said of his offensive effort.
"We had this game under control and kind of let up. We took some penalties and got into trouble, but our focus was the same thing we have been talking about - to finish off games - and finally we did."
Blake was talking about an almost unbelievable third period, one which saw the Leafs holding a 4-1 lead before allowing a very flat Hurricanes team back into the game.
Carolina bagged three goals - a soft one by Tuomo Ruutu, a power-play marker by Eric Staal, and the game-tying effort from Scott Walker - all before the period was 10 minutes old.
Suddenly a Leaf team that was poised to snap a four-game losing skid plunged back into the miserable hockey it had so desperately tried to erase.
On the bench, though, there was no letdown. Every player kept supporting the guy sitting beside him, right through the worst of it. Then Tomas Kaberle cranked home the game-winner on a power play.
Blake notched an empty-netter to complete his hat trick. That goal also bent the spotlight back toward him, and to the issues that have surrounded his time in Toronto.
The point was raised last night that he is a "different" player than he was last season, when he signed a five-year, $20 million (U.S.) free-agent deal, but followed up a 40-goal season in 2006-07 with just 15 under then-coach Paul Maurice.
He now has 13 goals - tied for second on the team - but admits that he was the problem, not Maurice.
Training camp was not quite over in September 2007 when Blake stunned the hockey world with news that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. With the aid of a super pill, he would play through the ailment, but it was clear he wasn't the high-scoring winger the Leafs had hoped for.
In fact, Blake didn't miss a game all season, but gave the appearance of a selfish player, one who didn't buy into the team concept that Maurice was preaching.
"Paul Maurice had nothing to do with it," Blake said of his underachieving 2007-08 season. "I had some unfortunate health news, I wasn't the greatest teammate, I wasn't the greatest person to be around, and you can ask my wife about that. I'll be honest with you, for three months or so I didn't want to play at all, the only thing that mattered to me was my kids."
Blake said the dark weight has lifted, and the chance to develop chemistry with Dominic Moore this season has helped trigger his restoration.
Still, last night's triumphant performance didn't come before a benching this season from coach Ron Wilson. The ploy worked - Blake returned and started driving the net more, something Wilson "gets on me about every day."
"I played for Ron (on the U.S. entry at two World Cup tournaments) and I know what he wants from me," Blake said.
"He sent a message and I wasn't happy about it, but it's about accountability, to prepare better, and be a better player. It's hard to score in this league and you're going to end up on your butt most of the time if you do score. But that's what I have to do and I'm trying my best to do it every night."
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